"Fantastic festival to be a part of! The industry talks were really interesting and informative, and the social aspect of the festival was great, lots of great networking opportunities. We definitely hope to be a part of the festival again the future." - Double Yellow Productions

Manchester Film Festival is proud to be a BIFA qualifying festival for both Shorts and Features and one of the Top 10 Best Reviewed Festivals on FilmFreeway.

The festival celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2024 with remarkable success, featuring sold-out screenings throughout the week. Attendance surged by an impressive 70% compared to previous years, and the festival expects this continue in 2025.

Manchester Film Festival is a ten-day celebration of film, with all films screened in a cinema with full surround sound and crystal-clear visuals.

All attending filmmakers are invited to take part in post-screening Q&A’s, red carpet interviews and nightly after parties.

In-competition films will come from open submissions submitted through FilmFreeway and the festival will end with the annual awards ceremony, with winners chosen by industry professionals, Manchester Film Festival alumni and Manchester Film Festival’s programming team.

Filmmakers will have plenty of opportunity to network with other film creatives at a festival that is known as a relaxed, filmmaker friendly event in a city that can offer an experience to attendees beyond the festival itself.

Attending filmmakers can come along to our Industry Days, where the festival hosts in-depth panel discussions that provide insight and perspective on a range of film related topics. Previous panels have included How to Succeed in the Industry if You're an Outsider, BFI Funding, Independent Distribution, Acquisitions, the UK Film Landscape and more.

Filmmakers can expect industry representation from the likes of BFI, Curzon, Altitude and Bulldog Films. Previous Manchester Film Festival films have gone on to have full theatrical releases and many can be found on Netflix, Amazon, and other platforms.

Manchester Film Festival 2025 will see industry panels, nightly after parties, daily film screenings in a cinema, red carpet interviews, Q&A’s and overall good times.

Manchester Film Festival is now taking submissions for 2025. Manchester Film Festival 2025 will be the eleventh edition of the festival and will take in March 2025 at the Odeon, Great Northern.

"The experience of a lifetime. From start to finish, Neil and his team put in so much effort to make you feel welcome and able to have a great time with filmmakers from all over the world. Every screening I attended was packed out, the daily afterparties were awesome, and the industry panels were very insightful." Tomas Manchester, Director

Check out all the other reviews below!

Awards & Prizes

All films in the official selection will compete for awards in the following categories with the prestigious Bee's being awarded to the winners at our annual closing night awards event.

Film of the festival
Best Feature
Best UK Short
Best Director
Best Screenplay
Best Actress
Best Actor
Best Cinematography
Best Edit
Best Documentary Short
Best Documentary Feature
Best Music Video
Best Student Film
Best Score
Staff Pick
Best Animation
Un-commissioned Screenplay Competition

As well as awards we will be creating amazing prize packages with our sponsors.

Rules & Terms

Manchester Film Festival is looking for independent feature-length and short films from around the world from any genre.

Our Standard Festival Participation Agreement (Terms and Conditions), which all submitted films are also expected to follow is as follows:

GENERAL RULES AND CONDITIONS

1. Submission Format
Films must be submitted via online screener.

2. Submission Eligibility
- All submissions must have been completed after 1 January 2023.
- Manchester Film Festival requires that all films (excluding music videos) have not played to a public audience in Manchester before the festival dates.
- Works-in-progress and films with distribution are accepted.
- All films not in the English language are required to have subtitles.

3. Premiere Status
- Manchester Film Festival requires that all films (excluding music videos) have not played to a public audience in Manchester before the festival dates.
- There is no Premiere policy for music videos, they may have screened at other Festivals and/or online.

4. Film Classification
All films screened during the Manchester Film Festival receive an age rating that is decided by the Manchester City Council.

5. Submission Fee
All FilmFreeway submissions for Manchester Film Festival are to be paid by credit card or PayPal. The submission fee is non-refundable.

6. Shipping
All shipping and postage costs, if the film is selected for the Festival, for all DCPs and additional materials sent to and returned from Manchester Film Festival must be borne by the submitting party. Manchester Film Festival will not accept Cash On Delivery shipments. Manchester Film Festival will not absorb any fees incurred in British customs. All charges must be pre-paid

7. Selection of Films
Submissions are reviewed and selected under the following criteria:
- Quality of narrative and production values
- Independent nature of the production

8. Notification
Manchester Film Festival endeavours to complete all selection procedures by 10th of January 2024 and inform all submitting parties, in writing, if their film has been successful or not after that time. Successful submissions will receive a Filmmaker Festival Pack that will include important information on shipping the DCP to the Festival, press and publicity, guest accreditation, contact information and how to make the most of participating in the Festival.

9. Festival Screenings
Selected films MUST provide a Digital Cinema Package (DCP) or video file (.mov or .mp4).in order to be screened at the Manchester Film Festival. The film title MUST be clearly labelled on the hard drive.

10. Scheduling
Screenings are scheduled during the Festival at the discretion of Manchester Film Festival. Whilst every effort will be made to adhere to the published schedule, Manchester Film Festival reserves the right to make changes at any time for any reason. Manchester Film Festival will not be liable for any costs claimed as a result of a change in scheduling.
No film may be withdrawn from the festival programme after its selection.

COVID-19 - Due to the unprecedented and ongoing problems presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. We reserve the right to change the festival to a geo-blocked virtual online festival if it is not possible to host the event in a physical venue.

GENERAL AGREEMENT OF PARTICIPATION IN MANCHESTER FILM FESTIVAL:

By submitting to the Manchester Film Festival I confirm that I have read and accept the terms and regulations of MANIFF. I will provide the festival with any additional information required pursuant to these rules and regulations. I authorize the Manchester Film Festival to exhibit my film, and if selected, I confirm that an exhibition copy will be available in a required format for screening during the 2025 festival. I certify that I hold all necessary rights for the submission of this film/video to the Manchester Film Festival and that all rights and clearances have been made. This film is not subject to any litigation nor is threatened by any litigation. I hold Manchester Film Festival harmless from damage to, or loss of any or all materials en route to, from or otherwise at the festival. I assume all legal responsibilities therein. By Agreeing to these terms, I transfer to Manchester Film Festival the right to use excerpts of the submitted film, its stills, and trailers, for the purposes of publicity and marketing of the film at the 2025 festival, and for other non-commercial uses related to the promotion of the 2025 festival. I hereby agree to indemnify Manchester Film Festival, in the event that such rights have not been properly transferred.
242 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Rebecca Snow

    Absolutely loved having our UK Premiere at Manchester. The team are so accommodating and work very hard to make it a fantastic experience. Great audiences, and very thoughtful Q&A. Also met fantastic fellow filmmakers. Great atmosphere.

    April 2024
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  • MANASI BEDEKAR

    This was the first festival I participated and I am truly honoured to have my film KIMAYA win the best student film award. This festival was warm, welcoming and I met some kind award winning Film makers at networking events. Truly one of the best events of my life.

    March 2024
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  • Paddy Thunder

    This was a wonderful festival to be part of. The team were great to deal with and there were some really interesting talks on the industry days. Overall a brilliant atmosphere and a top bunch of people. Would recommend to any filmmaker.

    April 2024
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  • Dan Pringle

    Manchester Film Festival is an A Class festival in all respects. It has a unique filmmaker led approach and there is a strong sense of community fostered through the various networking and drinks events that take place throughout the week.

    The festival is also exceptionally well organised and the film program is intricately curated with a clear thematic focus running throughout each day's lineup of movies.

    I honestly couldn't recommend attending, or submitting to, MFF enough.

    April 2024
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  • Dilek Osman

    Could not recommend enough. We had the best time and it was an honour to screen alongside such high quality films. The team were super welcoming and communication in the lead up and throughout the festival was top-notch. We made some great connections over a long weekend. Big thanks to Neil and the team!

    April 2024
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