2026 Submission Guidelines
- Short Film Qualifications: Temecula Valley Film Festival (TVFF) welcomes all categories and styles of short films, including (but not limited to) live-action, documentary, experimental, and animation, are welcome. Entries must have a total runtime of no longer than 30 minutes. Films must have been completed after 2024, and there are no premiere requirements.
- Student Short Film Qualifications: The Student category is open to students only. The submitted film must have been produced while the "creators" (e.g., director(s) / producer(s) / writer(s)) were enrolled at a school, college, or university. Proof of Student ID or enrollment during the time of production must be available upon request.
- Submissions: All films must be submitted through FilmFreeway - there are no exceptions.
- Work-in-Progress (WIP): WIP projects will only be considered if the film is picture-locked, and only in need of minor alterations to sound or color. If accepted, a completed version of the film MUST be available for our judging committee by September 19th, 2026 for review.
- Submission Categories: We offer open categories for all types of short films. All short films submitted are considered “in competition” for both the 2026 Golden Poppy Jury Award and our Audience Choice Award, along with other potential awards in development. Submission dates are FIRM and will not be changed. Please submit a high-definition version of your film for the best screening reviews.
**Filmmakers under 18 years old must have a parent or legal guardian submit the film on their behalf to qualify.**
- International Films: We welcome international entrants to our festival! Cultivating a diverse experience for our audience is paramount to our festival’s success, and we love to see what the world outside of the States has to offer. If submitting a film in a language other than English, you MUST include captions (subtitles) in English embedded in the file.
**We currently do not provide discount codes for countries ineligible for US film festival payments/entry and will consider updating this in the coming years. Sorry for the inconvenience.
- Exhibition Copies: Selected films must provide a DCP (Digital Cinema Package) format for the exhibition. **If you do not have a DCP available for viewing, we have partnerships/offers for discounts to help you provide one if accepted. Audio for all films must be in 5.1 or stereo format.
- Notification: Selected films will be notified by email in August 2025. Please add filmfreeway.com and temeculavalleyff.com to your email filter to avoid the notifications going into spam folders. Lack of communication awareness due to spam-filtered emails could cause delays or disqualification, so please keep an eye on your emails around the listed notification date.
- Deliverable Dates: Selected films must provide an exhibition copy to us by October 1, 2026. A DCP (Digital Cinema Package) formatted CRU/drive is the most preferred form of delivery, but options for deliverables will be officially listed here before our notification date. TVFF holds no responsibility for lost or damaged media files. While the utmost care is taken regarding your media, it is solely up to the filmmaker to take full responsibility (e.g., insurance) when providing deliverables.
- Posters/Marketing Materials: A high-quality poster for the film may be required if selected. We do not require promotional material/press kits, but we encourage any form of digital promotional content made available to us upon selection to help better promote your film. Participants agree that their film, clips from it, and/or all other material related to their project may be used and/or published in the event program, on TVFF’s website, social media, and/or our media partners, as well as for any other promotional purposes which TVFF deems appropriate for the festival.
- Withdrawals: Once a film has been submitted and/or accepted, filmmakers reserve the right to withdraw from the festival, however, refunds for submission fees will only be given in extreme circumstances (evaluated on a case-by-case basis)
- Programming: The festival programmers reserve the right to program selected films as deemed appropriate. Audience experience and cultural development for the local Temecula Valley area stay at the forefront of our decisions when curating programs. All requests for selected films to be shown at a time different from the already programmed will be denied.
- Payments: Payments and entry fees will only be collected through FilmFreeway.com and the correct amount of U.S. Funds (listed in each category). Submission fees are NON-REFUNDABLE. Please consider all the guidelines and rules above before applying.
- Warranties: By submitting your film to the Temecula Valley Film Festival, you warrant that we hold all the necessary rights to screen your film at our event. You also agree that you have secured and reserved all rights to your film project, and content within (e.g., music rights, story rights, logos, font types, etc.) If selected, all commercial/private property, including all trademark/copyrighted materials shown or recorded on the project, is the responsibility of the filmmaker. By submitting, you agree to indemnify the Temecula Valley Film Festival and all its subsidiaries from any wrongdoing involving the exhibition of your project. Temecula Valley Film Festival holds no responsibility for lack of secured ownership in copy-written material presented in your selected work and reserves the right to reject your project if it is found to lack clearance. Please be sure to only submit material containing content you have ownership of or rights to present.
