Romford Film Festival has spawned a horrific child, after years of running a successful festival we have launched The Romford Horror Film Festival.

Listed by Screen Daily as one of the 50 UK Film Festivals you need to know, our 5th festival will run from Thursday 27th February to Sunday 2md of March 2025, at Romford's Premiere Cinema. Films will be shown one one main screen with over 280 seats and a slightly smaller screen of around 150 the event begins on the Thursday running through to Sunday from 11am in the morning until late at night. As well as horror films we'll be accepting other genre areas such as sci-fi, fantasy and thrillers.

Romford is in London's third largest retail area and has a plethora of shops and restaurants close at hand, as well as a variety of hotels.

Since the festival launched in 2021 we have screened over 150 world premieres, showing approximately 120-180 shorts and features each year.

Filmmakers in attendance will experience their film on a large screen in a purpose build multiplex, at the end of the screenings there will be a Q&A session with the audience followed by an interview with either Spencer, Kevin or Peter, all interviews will be filmed and unleashed onto our social media channels. Our team KNOW horror and you'll appreciate the output we provide to your films. There will be red carpet interviews with our audience and reviews on a number of websites. In addition we offer stylised photoshoots for our filmmakers and guests, you can check this out in our photo library. These are provided for free. We have sessions of horror roulette, Nerdly livestreams with Kevin Haldon and a bar with themed cocktails.

Romford Film Festival and Romford Horror Film Festival are festivals ran by filmmakers and people who actively work within the industry, so we understand all the things you've been through, we'll screen your accepted film and part as lifelong friends, we'll support you long after the festival finish. Which is probably why in our festival history over 300 filmmakers have returned with their projects after having an amazing first outing with us.

In our 2024 season we exceeded our expectations with over 1000 attendees arrive on the Saturday alone, to not just watch films, but purchase goods from stands and get autographs with famous faces from horror.

We will have 13 main awards:

Including:
Best Film
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Score

Other awards based on similar themes such as "Best Kill" or "Best Vacuum Cleaner Death" these awards will change yearly.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

The festival operates a no waiver policy.

Incomplete films can be submitted for consideration, however any content submitted must be supplied by 1st January 2025 in its completed form or films will be removed from schedules.

Any film not presented in English must come with English subtitles.

There is no exclusion for films that have been featured at other film festivals, films currently available on streaming services may also be included.

Filmmakers travelling from oversees are not paid for attending, Romford Horror Film Festival prides itself on its Not For Profit status. However if filmmakers choose to attend, they will receive free festival tickets, be considered for awards (as will any submission) and will be part of a Q&A at the end of their film which is recorded, displayed on social media channels and sent to associated press.

Any film submitted cannot withdraw for any circumstances once the film has reached us and been publicly announced.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Chad Ferrin

    Always a pleasure to play this fantastic festival!

    April 2024
  • Had a fantastic time screening my feature film 'Isaac' here. There were loads of great films on show (from classics and new), plus Q&A's, iconic guests, fun networking nights, and a superb bar with local drinks available. The venue has a lot of charm about it and the staff were great. Leading up to the festival, we were very much kept in the loop, which is always greatly appreciated. Thank you for having us Romford Horror! I hope to return in the future.

    March 2024
  • Michael Doyle

    We were so happy to play at the festival, brilliant atmosphere and attention to detail, can not recommend enough. Thank you RHF!! :)

    March 2024
  • Chris Harvey

    Fantastic festival that is getting more amazing every year

    March 2024
  • Guy Harvey

    Great team, great audience, great films. Would highly recommend this fest!!

    March 2024