An IMDb Qualifying Festival

VERY IMPORTANT: All written material, i.e., screenplays, stage plays, poems, and novels, must be submitted to their respective category. DO NOT submit any written material to categories reserved for film/video, i.e., drama, Art-house, etc. Doing so will get your submission rejected.
DO NOT submit a film or video to screenplay or any written medium category, as it will also be rejected.
We hire professional readers and judges for all written materials, and they will not review videos.
We hire professional reviewers for videos, and they will not review written material.
Welcome to the Depth of Field International Film Festival, a FilmFreeway GOLD Verified festival. It also honors us to be a FilmFreeway Top 100 Reviewed festival Alumni. Find out why filmmakers call us “one of the most helpful festivals ever.”

Rejected films have access to feedback, the one element most festivals ignore.

Instead of paying submission fees and getting nothing in return, everyone who submits to DOFIFF will receive either of two benefits: Either 1): your film is already of competition caliber and becomes an official selection, or 2) you’ll receive a letter outlining exactly what is keeping it from being accepted upon request. If you can make corrections, you can resubmit for free.

First-time filmmakers: when have you ever received a letter and had the festival explain why you weren't selected? See why filmmakers thank us and rank us as a 'FilmFreeway Top 100 Review' festival to say: Best Festival Ever!

Top-winning films at DOFIFF have already received distribution through our exclusive distributor relationships.

Guaranteed distributor review by Worldwide Motion Pictures Corporation (WWMPC.COM) for features, Adler & Associates for features and shorts, our new distribution associate “Cardinal XD Distribution (CARDINALXD.COM), CCS Releasing and Polaris Pictures (for screenplays), among others, for our select few: Best of Festival and Best of Show winners in the 20 major categories, based on sufficient qualified entries.

Winning an award in a subcategory does NOT qualify for screening and sending to our distributors.

We don't have any control or influence over Polaris Pictures or any of our associate distributors deciding to offer you a production deal or even answering your email. We merely open the door for the top winners.

Other festivals claim to invite distributors to a venue; we deliver them to you directly, guaranteed.
- A festival that runs as a web-based competition, plus DOFIFF, with WRPN.TV Entertainment Network may also offer a unique opportunity to show your film to a worldwide community of video fans from over 80 countries to which filmmakers would not normally have access as an optional online video exposure opportunity. This feature is available for “Best Of Show,” “Outstanding Excellence,” “Excellence,” and even some “Exceptional Merit” winners.

- Any film rejected will receive a personal letter explaining what elements caused the rejection (unlike other festivals that do not explain at all). HINT: most rejections or low award levels are because of insufficient volume on dialogue soundtracks.
- We give any film NOT accepted a free synopsis of the judge’s notes, at the filmmaker's request, for free
- FREE Earlybird entry of any rejected film, into DOFIFF’s next competition, upon completion of the suggested corrections outlined in your rejection letter
- $40.00 flat fee for ALL STUDENT FILM ENTRIES regardless of deadline status (proof required of student status at the time of filming: no refunds if your ID is not legitimate)
- Unique Category distinctions:
“Dust Collector” category for pre-2009 films
“Tight Shorts” and “Loose Shorts” distinction between running times of less than 15 minutes and those between 15-59 minutes
“Horror” and “Sci-Fi” are separated into two distinct categories
- Finally, our founders are registered Committee Members for the Universal Film & Festival Organization (UFFO.ORG). The UFFO is a non-profit operating out of the U.K., which exists to promote the best business practices for film festivals. This guarantees that your film will enjoy a fair and thorough judging process.

DOFIFF, in cooperation with our distribution colleagues, is proud to offer a guaranteed distributor review to the top winners in these award levels in the 20 Major categories*:
"Best Of Festival"
"Best Of Show"

*(Please note: If there is insufficient competition within any category, DOFIFF reserves the right to withdraw a "Best Of" presentation in that category.)

Other award levels include:
"Award of Outstanding Excellence"
"Award of Excellence"
"Award of Exceptional Merit"
"Award of Merit"
"Kudos Endeavor Award"

DOFIFF is granted the right to use an excerpt from any film submitted and accepted for competition at the Festival for promotional purposes.

A clip of winning entries may also be streamed on the DOFIFF.COM website and WRPN.TV.

The number of awards granted at any level will fluctuate based on the total number of entries received for each competition deadline. Just as entering major categories does not guarantee selection or award, entering sub-categories does not.

Filmmakers who enter sub-categories only (without entering a major category) may be rejected if the judges do not feel the submitted sub-category is of merit, even if the film itself is of merit and could have been award-worthy. Films may also win sub-category awards written by the judges, even if the filmmaker didn't submit them.

Your film's name would appear in the Official Selection list only if you submitted it to one of 20 Major (full-price) Categories (films submitted for judging in reduced-rate, production value sub-categories only are not listed).

The individual or corporation submitting the film warrants that it is authorized to commit the film for online screening and understands and accepts these requirements and regulations.

We don't screen films without the producer's written consent.

The Competition reserves the right to refuse entries, and there are no waivers.

Submissions other than English must be subtitled, dubbed, or include an English transcript.

If there is insufficient competition within any category, DOFIFF reserves the right to withdraw a "Best Of" presentation.

REFUNDS POLICY: In the event you withdraw your submission before being Officially Selected, you will receive a refund.
If you withdraw AFTER being Officially Selected, there will be NO refunds.
All our judges (selection and awarding) are paid. We don't use unpaid volunteers.

To ensure that each film and screenplay is studied and rated individually, we instituted a system to ensure that entries do not compete against each other but are recognized for their merits. They compete against themselves: we judge each entry on individual merits and score on an inherent value system. We want to ensure that the judges' focus is on you when it is your turn to be tested, not on all the other films that are on cue: this ensures that they will not have comparisons going on in their minds when they should focus entirely on YOU.

Judges score on a performance scale, and winning entries are recognized and awarded not only for Best Of Show but also for two Awards of Excellence levels, two Awards of Merit levels, a Kudos Endeavor Award, or no award.
Best of Show honors are granted to the top scoring entry/entries for each season; Awards of Excellence are granted to entries with truly exceptional artistic and technical achievements. We recognize notable achievements at the Award of Merit and 'Kudos' levels.

The undersigned shall indemnify DEPTH OF FIELD INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, WRPN.TV, and ROMAN PICTURES from and against all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including attorney's fees and court costs) incurred by any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss of or damage to the screening videos entered.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • john matthew tyson

    I was honored to receive the Platinum Award for my screenplay from the festival. However, I received no reply, acknowledgement or follow up from their "Guaranteed distributor review team." Disappointed I didn't even receive acknowledgement of my submission.

    November 2023
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    Response from festival:


    Congratulations on your platinum award!
    Please read the email we sent you with instructions to submit to our associate, Polaris Pictures (not our team). We very clearly stated, "Remember, we don't have any control or influence over Polaris Pictures, deciding to offer you a production deal, or even answering your email. We merely open the door for the top winners.
    Your review of us, given the fact that you didn't read the entire instructions, is very unfair.
    Distributors and film finance companies are known for not answering if they have no interest.
    We work very hard at trying to help filmmakers and writers.
    Keep in mind that at this time of the year, they are all busy attending the annual film markets.

  • Shaun Anthony Robinson

    Big shout out to the people that run this Film Festival the screening my film and selecting it to win also super appreciative of the feedback the film got and the review depth of film International Film Festival he's a great festival for up-and-coming film creators
    . Thanks a bunch to the team

    November 2023
  • Amina Warsuma

    I give the Depth of Field International Film Festival a five-star rating across the board. If they don't select you, they will tell you why and how to fix what is wrong. Although I never had that problem, they have always accepted my work and given me awards, and I know they are honest. They are not the audience but professionals who know film and how one should be made.

    November 2023
  • Marty Krzywonos

    I find that the unique approach to showcasing films is quite refreshing. Although they do not do the general Film Fest at some remote area, they open it up to a global level with the potential of being seen at a longer term period. Film festivals are evolving and DFIF is leading the pack.

    October 2023
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    Response from festival:

    As stated on all our web sites, including Film Freeway, Depth of Field is an online-only festival. A festival that is run as a virtual competition: We invest in getting distributor recognition for quality films to give them a life beyond a one-time festival showing. If you didn't receive our winning notification email, please check your spam folder. You will notice we invite many of the winners to screen virtually at our network, WRPN.tv

  • Many thanks to the judging committee for the award bestowed on my documentary, "Tapping With Autism." I greatly appreciate the professionalism and being notified as indicated. Wishing everyone involved in this film festival great success.

    October 2023