So, you’ve finished your film project—be it short or feature-length, animated or live-action, narrative or documentary. Congratulations! Now, where the heck do you show it?
We’ve already covered your best options for networking with like-minded creatives. But what if you’re truly ready for the big leagues, and the priority is maximum exposure to distributors, producers, and reps? In that case, we’ve curated a list of the top destinations to target.
Sundance Film Festival
You have undoubtedly heard of this one. Sundance is one of the biggest festivals in the world, bringing an army of distributors and buyers to small, snowy Park City, Utah, for 41 years. (Starting in 2027, the festival is headed to Boulder, Colorado.) At the 2025 iteration, 20 films left with a distribution sale, including Shoshannah Stern’s documentary “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore” (picked up by Kino Lorber) and Alireza Khatami’s mystery-thriller “The Things That Kill” (sold to “Terrifier 3” distributor Cineverse). Full disclosure: It will be very hard to get in—competition is fierce! But if you feel like you’ve got the goods, it is absolutely worth the try.
Some critics may use the label “Sundance film” as a pejorative, inhibiting box, but Kim Yutani, Sundance’s director of programming, still preaches the festival’s usage for discovery and dissemination: “When we encounter something new—a new voice, a new perspective, a new approach to storytelling—we know that we’ve found something special to support and share that with our festival audiences.”
The Sundance Film Festival’s next run will be Jan. 22–Feb. 1, 2026.
Tribeca Film Festival
Based in New York City, the Tribeca Film Festival has a decidedly younger, even feistier flair in their programming. But it still boasts lots of industry interest and partnership opportunities. It could be the perfect intersection between mainstream access and countercultural impulses for the right project.
Festival director Cara Cusumano speaks about the necessity of a unique, captivating voice as tantamount to success at Tribeca: “We see a lot of films that don’t work because people tried to make something they thought everyone else would like, or they tried to kind of edit themselves, or they think something will be perfect for Tribeca,” she told Backstage. “But they should make something that’s perfect for them. And that’s the stuff that we really do respond to, that has personality and uniqueness.”
The Tribeca Film Festival’s next run will be June 4–15.
Toronto International Film Festival
Another crown jewel in the film festival pantheon, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) boasts a staggering amount of talent and industry reps available to engage with. And if you’re a genre filmmaker, there’s the equally prestigious Midnight Madness subsection to submit to—in 2024, it played host to the North American premiere of Coralie Fargeat’s Oscar-nominated “The Substance.”
Diana Sanchez, who programmed films for TIFF for over 17 years, believes wholeheartedly in the filmmaker-to-festival communication pipeline, arguing for access as the most important facet of a film festival. “I think it’s important for people to reach out because it’s key and we are a community,” she said. “Sometimes people think, ‘Oh, you guys are so busy,’ but we want to work with filmmakers and support filmmakers, because that’s actually what we do…we’re all working together and it is a wider community.”
The Toronto International Film Festival’s next run will be Sept. 4–14. Submit here.
Palm Springs International Film Festival
First, a distinction: For feature films, submit to the Palm Springs International Film Festival. For shorts, you want the Palm Springs International ShortFest.
Now, the reason why: Both Palm Springs festivals, in the gorgeous and sometimes scorching desert of Southern California, have an eye on emerging talent and new filmmakers worth noticing. Both attract distributors, producers, and other industry folks at a pleasingly accessible, indie level.
David Ansen, a film critic at large, is the lead programmer, giving the lineup a different, eclectic flavor than other festivals. He also spoke to Variety about the importance of fostering community: “As a programmer, for me, one of the great joys of a film festival is getting to meet all these filmmakers and watching them unveil their movies before a live audience. They get to meet each other and hang out and form friendships and go see each other’s movies.”
The Palm Springs International ShortFest’s next run will be June 24–30. The Palm Springs International Film Festival’s next run will be Jan. 2–13, 2026. Submit here.
Slamdance Film Festival
Priding itself as “by filmmakers, for filmmakers,” Slamdance is a great place for projects outside of the beaten path and parties interested in risk and artistry. Simply put, filmmaking greats emerge from Slamdance. Christopher Nolan won the fest’s Grand Jury Prize in 1999 for his thriller “Following” before going on to direct “Memento” and the Dark Knight trilogy. Rian Johnson debuted his short “Evil Demon Golf Ball From Hell!!!” well before he helmed “Star Wars: Episode VIII—The Last Jedi” and “Knives Out.” Gina Prince-Bythewood screened the short “Bowl of Pork” three years before she debuted her game-changing romantic drama “Love & Basketball.”
Recently, Slamdance moved from Park City to Los Angeles; festival co-founder Peter Baxter believes its new location helps independent filmmakers find more access: “We’ve always focused on the discovery of new filmmakers, the launching of careers and new ideas in filmmaking. That has been and still is our mission,” he told Filmmaker Magazine. “But what is exciting right now in coming to L.A. is how we can grow Slamdance.”
Slamdance Film Festival’s next run will be in 2026.
