THE RULES FOR FILM ENTRIES
All films must be 15 minutes or less in length, including credits at the end.
Entries to the Young Film-maker category must have been made by directors/teams aged between 18 and 25 years when filming.
Entries for the North West category must have been made in the North West of England.
Judges, sponsors, administrators, and independent contractors who work with or for the Leigh Film Society are not eligible to enter the festival, nor are their spouses or other immediate family members.
Deadline for submissions to the competition is midnight on 31st July 2026.
Once a film has been entered in the competition, under no circumstances will we accept a new version of the film. If you wish to submit a revised version of your film, you must enter it as a new submission and pay the appropriate entry fee.
There is a £10 entrance fee taken when submitting your film on the FilmFreeway website.
The entrance fee is non-refundable.
Films should ideally be submitted in the h.264 MP4 file format but we can accept most other formats. We would also prefer that all submissions are supplied at a minimum of 1080p resolution, with higher resolutions welcome.
All selection & judging decisions are final.
Any conflicts of interest between film-makers & the selection panel should be declared to the festival organisers IMMEDIATELY.
Digital versions of marketing materials should be made available to be used for our marketing purposes no later than the 31st August 2026.
THE SELECTION PROCESS
By submitting a film to the WLFF, you indicate that you have read and accept the Rules and Terms of the Wigan & Leigh Film Festival.
I will provide the festival with any additional information required pursuant to these Rules and Terms.
I authorise the WLFF to exhibit my film, and if selected, I confirm that an exhibition copy will be made available in a required format for screening during the 2026 festival.
I certify that I hold all necessary rights for the submission of this film/video to the WLFF, that all rights and clearances have been made and that this film is not subject to any litigation nor is threatened by any litigation.
By Agreeing to these Rules and Terms, I transfer to the WLFF the right to use excerpts of the submitted film, its stills, and trailers, for the purposes of publicity and marketing of the film at our festival, and for other non-commercial uses related to the promotion of our festival.
Full Entry requirements, Rules and Terms & Conditions are available on our website. Please visit the Submissions page.
