Starling Film Festival is taking flight for its fourth annual film festival. We welcome you to enjoy all that we have to showcase—films from seven different categories, each with a unique flair. We have raised submission selections to 65 so more films can be enjoyed. The festival shall take place both online and in person, with events such as our live in-person screening, live award ceremony, filmmakers networking night, mystery film screening and much more

Whether you are a participant or an audience member, you can watch the films at our live screening or in the comfort of your own home. So, no matter where you are in the world, we want you to be part of our little murmuration.

How the Festival plays out:

Submission Period - 6th Jan to 1st August 2025
Selected Filmmakers - All films are showcased on our online website
Finalist Filmmakers - Of the selected films, finalist films are then shown at the live event (excluding Short Feature Films) alongside the online Award Ceremony

To begin with, successful films that made it into the festival will receive selection laurels to showcase. Here is a breakdown of all the awards we have to give away at our festival. Each of the category winners will receive a winning laurel award.

Best Animation

Best Student

Best Fiction  

Best Documentary

Best Horror 

Best Short Feature

Best LGBTQ+

Murmuration Audience Award - Voted by our online audience

Aviary Audience Award - Voted by our live audience only

The Michael Flynn Award - for outstanding achievements in the field of cinematography.

Mad As Birds' 'Golden Feather' Award. The Golden Feather Award is an award for excellence in film, sponsored by Mad As Birds Films (MAB). The winner will receive a signature trophy, a small cash prize, and a free mentor session with Mad As Birds Films! Six of our finalist films will be chosen for this award.

If a participating filmmaker wins one of our awards, SFF will send the award to the filmmaker at an address provided by the winning filmmaker. Postage and shipping will need to be covered by the filmmaker if they wish to receive their award, and rates will vary depending on travel distance.

To show our support for Ukrainian and Palestinian filmmakers, SFF would like to offer free submissions to all Ukrainian and Palestinian filmmakers who wish to submit their films to our festival this year. Please get in touch with starlingfilmfest@gmail.com if this does apply to you, and we will give you a unique code.

Please read these rules carefully to make sure that your film meets the requirements to submit and that you understand everything before submitting your film:

Films submitted into the 'Short Feature' category will only screened online, not at our live screening event.

All selected films will be showcased on our website live, whereas finalist films, will be shown at the live screening event.

Films selected at last year's festival cannot be submitted again for the festival this year.

The film must be no longer than 15 minutes (excluding Short Features which will be up to 45 minutes). This must include a title screen and credits.

The film must have been completed within the last two years (beginning January 2023).

If your film contains any verbal dialogue, the film must come with English subtitles embedded in the film.

The concept of the film must be of original ideas. Any external materials used in the film (i.e. music, videos and so on) must be appropriately secured by the person/group submitting.

The film must be submitted by the final deadline on the 31st of August at 11:59 pm (BST Time) to be counted. Any film submitted after this final deadline will not be counted.

Every selected film will receive a laurel and a certificate with the chance of being screened at our live event (all selected films will be shown online).
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PLEASE NOTE!

Submission fees are NON-REFUNDABLE and non-negotiable!!

The categories 'Student', 'Interpretari' and 'Short Feature' welcome all film genres to their categories, not just one genre.

Upon applying for the festival, those who submit understand and consent that they are solely responsible for their films being as accurately described and that all criteria are met. Starling Film Festival and all those associated with and/or in charge of the festival will not take legal responsibility for any film submitted under false information or use of unsecured external materials. This responsibility falls to the individual/group submitting to the festival.

​Once selected, filmmakers will receive an email regarding written consent about participating and being screened at the live/online festival. SFF will set a deadline for all selected filmmakers to meet. If the deadline passes and SFF has not received formal written consent, then your film selection will be revoked.

Any film discovered to be submitted under any false information will be immediately removed from the festival, regardless of where the film stands.

All final decisions our programmers and juries make are final and cannot be disputed.

Best of luck to all who submit their film(s) to the festival.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Sevenskies Distribution

    A big and attractive festival. I am happy to participate in your festival. You are the best

    December 2024
  • A fantastic experience!
    The team at Starling Film Festival was exceptional throughout, with special attention to communication regarding the event.

    We felt truly valued as filmmakers, and it was a real pleasure to have our works Carne (Meat) and Vigilia (Vigil) included in the selection.

    We are extremely grateful for the opportunity to participate in the Q&A session via video, as we couldn’t attend in person.

    We look forward to participating in future editions!

    November 2024
  • Pia Alm

    It was very easy to communicate with the staff and I was honored that my film was chosen. Thank you!

    November 2024
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you Pia, and congratulations on being selected

  • Solmaz Etemad

    Everything was perfect thank you so much ☺️

    November 2024
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    Response from festival:

    We much appreciate it Solmaz. Well done on being selected for our festival

  • Parker Croft

    Participating in the Starling Film Festival was a great experience. Although we couldn’t attend due to scheduling conflicts, we were thoroughly impressed by the festival’s outstanding support and commitment to both the films and filmmakers. Their professionalism really made an impact.

    November 2024
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    Response from festival:

    That means a lot to us, Parker; thank you. We hope to see you at our future festivals