North West Independent Film Festival

GENERAL RULES AND CONDITIONS

1. Submission Format
- Films must be submitted via online screener on FilmFreeway. Submissions should have a minimum of 1080p resolution.

2. Submission Eligibility
- Films submitted to the 'Short Film - Fiction' and 'Short Film - Documentary' categories must be British. From 2027, there is a NEW 'International Short Film' category. Films entered into this category must contain English subtitles.
- All films must be 15 minutes or less in length, including credits.
- All submissions must have been completed after 1 June 2026.
- Works-in-progress are accepted; however, productions should be fully finished by time of screening.

3. Selection of Films
- All submitted films will be reviewed by at least 5 members of the NWIFF team. All volunteer programmers go through detailed training with the Director of Festival.
- We are particularly focussed on championing high-quality low-budget filmmaking with unique and engaging stories.

4. Premiere Status
- There is no Premiere policy for films; they may have screened at other festivals and/or online.

5. Film Classification
- All films screened during the North West Independent Film Festival (NWIFF) will receive an age rating that is decided by Preston City Council.

6. Submission Fee
- All submissions are to be paid via FilmFreeway. The submission fee is non-refundable. We pride ourselves on being an affordable festival.

7. Notification
- NWIFF endeavours to inform all submitting parties, in writing, if their film has been selected or not for the festival. Individualised feedback can be requested.

8. Festival Screenings
- Selected films must provide a video file (.mov or .mp4) in order to be screened at the festival. The film title must be in the movie file name.
- Unlike some festivals on FilmFreeway, an 'Official Selection' means that the film WILL be screened at the in-person festival.

9. Scheduling
- Screenings are scheduled during the festival at the discretion of NWIFF. Whilst every effort will be made to adhere to the published schedule, NWIFF reserves the right to make changes at any time for any reason.
- Once selected for the festival programme, films are unable to be withdrawn by the filmmaker.

10. Waiver Requests
- NWIFF does not issue fee waivers under any circumstances. See Point 6.

11. Awards
- NWIFF has 6 awards up for grabs. Award winning filmmakers will receive a plaque from the festival, given in person in Preston, Lancashire. If you need the plaque to be posted, we will require a fee to cover the postage cost.

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GENERAL AGREEMENT OF PARTICIPATION IN THE NORTH WEST INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL:

By submitting to the North West Independent Film Festival (NWIFF), you confirm that you have read and accept the terms and regulations of NWIFF. You authorise NWIFF to exhibit your film, and if selected, confirm that an exhibition copy will be available in a required format for screening. You certify that you hold all necessary rights for the submission of this film production to NWIFF and that all rights and clearances have been made. This film is not subject to any litigation nor is threatened by any litigation. You hold NWIFF harmless from damage to, or loss of any or all materials en route to, from or otherwise at the festival. You assume all legal responsibilities therein. By agreeing to these terms, you transfer to NWIFF the right to use the submitted film, its stills, excerpts and trailers, for the purposes of publicity and marketing of the film festival. You hereby agree to indemnify NWIFF in the event that such rights have not been properly transferred.