*COVID-19 UPDATE: We are aware that this unusual situation is making people feel more cautious especially with submitting to festivals. At this time, we have no plans to postpone the festival. We are still working on it going ahead on October 15th - October 17th. We will review this on a rolling monthly basis. If you have any questions about submission or if you have submitted already, please do not hesitate to contact us.*

Welcome to Worcester Film Festival!

This is our inaugural year but don't let that put you off! We are hosting a hugely ambitious city-wide festival. We have two screening venues, one modern and one historic, that reflect our changing city, an awards gala at the impressive Guildhall, movie-themed stalls throughout the centre, a pub/cafe crawl that will take you through the decades of film, live music, special horror showings in old cells, workshops (some run by the prestigious DRP Group), q&a's and networking evenings. This is an event for you, the filmmakers.

Come enjoy our city and see what we have to offer. We want this to be a festival in every sense of the word, a theme park for filmmakers with a jam-packed map that will leave you wishing you could be in two places at once.

All of Worcester is behind this event. These are just a few of our partners and sponsors:
Worcester City Council
Worcester County Council
University of Worcester
Worcester Innovation
DRPG
Fortis
Harms Way Studios
TestaRossa Productions
Wearebeard
Truth Co.
BBC Hereford & Worcester
Worcester BID
The Hive
Royal Porcelain Works
The Guildhall
The Kiln
LSD Promotions
Ad:Vantage Digital

Join us for this 3-day event and we promise you'll want to return year after year!

Awards & Prizes

Trophies will be given at the Awards Gala on the final night of the festival for the following categories:

Best Feature
Best Short
Best Female Actor
Best Male Actor
Best Director
Best Cinematography
Best Screenplay
Best International Film
Best Midlands
Best Student Film

You can submit to more than one category if you feel it is applicable to your film. To make the subcategories more accessible for everyone they are listed at a lower price point to the main ones. Hopefully, this will give you the opportunity to choose from a range of categories that you believe best reflects the proudest aspects of your films.

Rules & Terms

Films must not have had a commercial release prior to submission.
Short films must be under 40 minutes
Feature films must be 40 minutes or longer.

The Festival welcomes all forms of film production – animation, experimental, etc. However, promotional films are not eligible (e.g. films promoting tourism, charitable appeals, etc.)⁣
- Films that are available to purchase are NOT eligible; this includes DVD/Blu-ray/VHS formats.⁣
- Films that have previously been publicly screened, broadcast or otherwise made publicly available (including online) will NOT be considered.⁣

- To be eligible for the short film competitions, films must have been completed after 15th October 2018 and be 40 minutes or less in duration⁣
- To be eligible for the feature film competitions, films must have been completed after 15th October 2018 and be 40 minutes or greater in duration⁣
- Please note that films submitted through the incorrect category will not be considered.
- THE FESTIVAL DOES NOT PAY SCREENING FEES FOR SUBMITTED FILMS.⁣

Non-English language films⁣:

To qualify for selection, all non-English language films must have an English-subtitled screening copy available.⁣

How to send your film⁣:

Please submit your film via the online submission platform, FilmFreeway. WE DO NOT ACCEPT FILMS OTHER THAN VIA THIS PLATFORM.⁣

Notification⁣:

Due to the large amount of submissions received, the Festival will only contact those filmmakers with work selected for competitions and notification will be given by September 2020. All other films will be announced on the Festival’s website in mid-October when the full Festival programme is launched. The Festival cannot offer feedback regarding films that are not selected for the programme. Please don’t be discouraged if your film is not accepted to Worcester Film Festival. There are often many influencing factors on why your film may or may not be accepted or be suitable for the Festival.⁣

Using extracts of the films and film stills for promotion⁣:

The entrant agrees that up to three minutes of their film may be used by the Festival in promotional activities including screening a clip on television, inclusion in the Festival’s trailer, and on the Festival’s website. Please ensure that uploaded stills and headshots are of print quality and that you have permission to allow the Festival to use these for promotional and press purposes in perpetuity. ⁣

Unsolicited submissions, waivers and discounts⁣:

The Festival respectfully requests that entrants do not send a DVD directly to the Festival, do not send unsolicited Vimeo etc., links to Festival staff, and do not appeal for fee waivers. The modest fees are necessary to ensure that all films are viewed and fairly considered, as well as to support the costs of curation and Festival delivery.⁣

General⁣:

Acceptance of these Terms and Conditions implies that the entrant will abide by them in their dealings with the Festival and also that the entrant is legally entitled to submit the film for consideration. Entry to the Festival implies that the entrant has the right to do so, has pre-cleared all materials that comprise the film, and is an authorised representative of the team that holds the intellectual property in the film.⁣

Entering a film to Worcester Film Festival implies the acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.⁣

The Festival wishes all potential entrants the best of luck with their submission and their film.⁣

The Festival reserves the right to change the Terms and Conditions at any time.⁣
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Updated March 2020.⁣