The English Riviera Film Festival welcomes submissions from across the world for our 7th annual film awards ceremony, to be held in November 2021.

We are excited to be turning to South Devon College’s state of the art Hi Tech & Digital Centre in Paignton, Torbay.***

Our mission is to celebrate and promote film making in the South West of England as well as provide a showcase for talent from across the globe. In this way we aim to promote the South West as a place where the film industry can do business, a picture-perfect location with a wealth of film making talent ready to join the world stage.

We have grown from a single day’s event in 2015 to a week-long programme of film related content comprising screening events, industry workshops, panels and networking, all culminating in the English Riviera Film Awards. Previous award winners have hailed from the USA, Canada, Italy, Netherlands and Japan and we have been delighted to offer a warm welcome to international delegates whose films have been shortlisted.

The Awards

The 2021 awards awards will be judged by a panel comprising independent film and theatre producers and directors. Entries are welcomed from all film makers who have completed their short films between June 2019 and August 31st 2021.*

For our 7th year submissions are invited to the following categories:

Best Film

Best Director

Best Screenplay

Best Cinematography

Best Film Score - new for 2021

Best Documentary

Best Animated film

Best Actress

Best Actor

The Audience Award**

The English Riviera Award for the best film maker from the South West of the UK

All finalists will be screened during the Awards event on Saturday November 6th, 2021 and winners will each receive one of our beautiful hand-crafted awards from the artisans at Our Glass in Cockington, Torquay and a certificate of Winning.

* For this year only, we will take films completed up until this extended date to support film makers who have experienced filming delays due to the pandemic.

** Voted by the Audience on Saturday November 6th 2021 at Nominees Screening

Events of the past year, it hardly needs noted, have been particularly challenging for emerging film related talent and we hope that this year’s English Riviera Film Festival can play its part in supporting the resurgence of the industry at all levels. We very much look forward to your submissions.

***Last year, due to government restrictions, the festival was hosted as a successful virtual event, but this year - the UK’s Covid-19 status allowing - we will return for a live audience event to South Devon College’s state of the art Hi Tech & Digital Centre in Paignton, Torbay.

Awards & Prizes

Best Film

English Riviera Film Award*
Best Documentary Film
Best Animated Film
Best Director
Best Cinematography
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best screenplay
Best Film Score
Audience Award **

* all awards open to Film Makers worldwide except the English Riviera Award which will recognise a Devon UK Film / Film Maker .

** Voted by the Audience on Saturday November 6th 2021 at Nominees Screening

Winning entries will receive a English Riviera Award
and Certificate of Winning . Plus will be featured on the Official website and social media.

Rules & Terms

FINAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 31st August 2021
All films must have been completed during from June 2019 to 31st August 2021 to be eligible for the 2021 Festival.

 From 2 minutes to a max runtime 25 minutes including credits.
THE ORGANISATION

1. The 2021 Festival Awards take place at South Devon College Hi Tech & Digital Centre in PaigntonTorbay, UK, on Saturday 6th November 2021.

2. The final selection of all films presented at the Festival and their scheduling in the program is the responsibility of the Festival Director for English Riviera Film Festival.

ELIGIBILITY

3. The Festival is open to short films of all production techniques or mixes thereof, including drama, animation, documentary, experimental or artist film from low to high budgets. Entries may be eligible for more than one category (animated and documentary entries are, for instance, still eligible for consideration in the Best Film award).

The 2021 awards categories are:
· Best Film
· English Riviera Film Festival Award
· Best Director
· Best Actor
· Best Actress
· Best Screenplay
· Best Cinematography
· Best Documentary
· Best Animated film
. Best Film Score

1 The English Riviera Film Award is Eligible only to Cast and Crew who have a connection to Devon. This is to recognise and support local talent.

4. The primary contact completing the submission process must be authorised to submit the film for consideration including permission from a distributor or sales agent representing the film and must have obtained necessary permissions for the inclusion of copyrighted music and/or images within the films. On submission of a film to the Festival, the applicant confirms that they possess all rights necessary for the screening of the film at this film Festival.

5. Film entries must have a maximum duration of 25 minutes including credits.

REGISTRATION AND DATA PROTECTION

7. Before you can submit your film, you will be asked to register your contact and film details. These details will only be shared with English Riviera Film Festival. English Riviera Film Festival ensures this information will not be used for anything other than direct contact from the Festival or one of the Festival’s submission partners and will not be shared with anyone else.

ENTRY FEES & REFUNDS



8. There is a submission fee to enter your films to English Riviera Film Festival.

9. The costs of submitting a film to an award category in the Festival for 2021 are as follows:



June 20th 2021 $10
July 20th 2021 $14
August 31st 2021 $16



10. Entry fees are non-refundable.

11. A separate entry form and additional entry fee is required for each film submission.

DIGITAL SUBMISSIONS

12. The digital video file you are entering should be of the highest quality copy of your film.

13. We regret that entries cannot be submitted by postal mail.

SELECTION PROCESS
14. The judges for the awards consist of film industry practitioners and dedicated film enthusiasts, adjudicated by the Festival Director (with the exception of the South Devon College film maker of the year award). The judges’ decision is final.

15. Successful entrants will be notified of their inclusion in the Festival by 15th October 2021.

16. After selection, notification letters will be sent electronically; please provide an email address that is checked regularly and ensure that the user account englishrivierafilmfestival@gmail.com is permitted to email you.

17. We are unable to give comments on individual films prior to submission or offer feedback for unsuccessful entries.

FESTIVAL SCREENINGS
18. All finalist entries will be scheduled for audience screening at the Festival. Participants are not entitled to claim rental or other fees for the screenings of their films at the Festival.
20 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Manos Triantafillakis

    Wonderful England Festival 🎥 Big thank you for hosting our film JUST LIKE WATER 🏆 Greetings from Greece 🇬🇷

    September 2022
    Helpful
  • Bridget O'Driscoll

    Fantastic festival, which gets bigger and bigger every year ! Great communication, great films, and I was very honoured to receive in the post 3 prizes for Replay. Couldn't recommend more !

    July 2022
    Helpful
  • Nigel Smith

    Friendly, excellent venue, great chance to network with other filmmakers

    December 2021
    Helpful
  • Ágnes Gundel

    Very nice film festival honored to been selected :)

    November 2021
    Helpful
  • Paul Ashton

    Great to have my short film at the festival and to receive 3 nominations. We travelled down from London and the level of the other finalist was very high. Very good communication from John throughout, great hospitality and really nice to watch the films on a large high-quality screen. Highly recommended.

    November 2021
    Helpful