Submit your film now for consideration to the 2024 Emberlight International Film Festival!

The Emberlight International Film Festival is one component of Emberlight, an annual arts festival in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Our fourth season will celebrate Feature and Short Films from around the world in Ironwood, Michigan from August 16 - 23, 2024.

Emberlight is dedicated to curating an inclusive environment where professionals across all artistic mediums can strike up conversation. Filmmakers, painters, dancers, musicians and writers alike can draw inspiration from each other as well as the beauty of the nature surrounding the festival.

We expose the filmmakers who visit Emberlight to the unique opportunities and resources of this magnificent region. Not only does the area boast spectacular backdrops of the Northern Lights and Lake Superior, but the people of our community are eager to contribute to the art of independent filmmaking.

Each film will be reviewed by 2-3 industry professionals from across the U.S. and abroad. Films will be judged based on their overall artistic and technical quality. All genres are welcome.

Be sure to get in touch with any further questions: film@emberlight.org

2024 Awards:

BEST FEATURE FILM
$1,000 cash prize, laurel

BEST NARRATIVE SHORT (40 minutes or less)
$750 cash prize, laurel

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT (40 minutes or less)
$500 cash prize, laurel

EMBERLIGHT CHOICE
$500 cash prize, laurel and 150 volunteer hours if the recipient decides to return to Ironwood to make a film. (The winner will be selected by the Emberlight Board of Directors.)

YOUNG MICHIGAN FILMMAKER AWARD
$300 cash prize, laurel
(Must be 30 years of age or younger, residing/attending an education program in Michigan)

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD
$200 cash prize, laurel

BEST MICRO FILM (5 minutes or less)
$150 cash prize, laurel

Short Films (40 minutes or less) will be eligible for the following awards and may also be eligible for the categories and cash prizes listed above:

BEST DIRECTOR

BEST FOREIGN SHORT

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

BEST LGBTQ+ SHORT

BEST DANCE FILM

BEST EXPERIMENTAL SHORT

BEST PERFORMANCE

BEST CINEMATIC WRITING

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

BEST EDITING

BEST SOUND DESIGN

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD

FEMALE FILMMAKER AWARD

INDIGENOUS FILMMAKER AWARD

All Finalist Films will be screened regardless of the filmmaker's attendance and reviewed by three judges.

Emberlight guarantees the following:

1. Every film submitted via FilmFreeway will be watched & reviewed by 2-3 judges.

2. All Finalist Films will be selected from the submission pool and not curated/invited. We do not make promises to friends or celebrities.

3. Finalist Films will be screened in front of a live audience regardless of the filmmakers ability to attend.

Submission Guidelines:

1. All screeners must be uploaded by the appropriate deadline date at 11:59 CT.

2. We will contact entrants if there's anything wrong with their submission. If this occurs, you will need to fix the submission issue by the requested deadline, otherwise we can't guarantee that your film will be reviewed.

3. Emberlight does not provide refunds for submission fees.

4. We accept all genres and do not rule out anything.

5. We accept submissions from all countries; however, only films submitted from countries that can receive transactions from the United States via PayPal or TransferWise are eligible for cash prizes.

6. Once you have submitted your project, you will receive a confirmation email from Emberlight within 48 hours. This email will confirm that your film has been submitted correctly. If you do not receive this email within 48 hours, please follow up by emailing film@emberlight.org to ensure your film has been submitted properly.

The Reviewing Process:

1. All films will be reviewed by 2-3 judges who are industry professionals. Emberlight’s judges work remotely and independently to watch, review and rate each film. Judges may nominate films for all award categories. Each judge has an equal vote and no Finalist selections are made outside of this process.

2. Emberlight’s programmers’ decisions are final.

3. Please note that programmers are NOT required to share programming feedback with entrants.

Finalists:

1. Accepted filmmakers will be notified via email, phone or text. Filmmakers must confirm their participation by the given deadline, otherwise they might lose their spot in the line-up.

2. If selected you will not be expected to attend the festival. Please note that Emberlight does not cover travel expenses should you decide to attend.

4. Accepted filmmakers must be the authors of their submitted work and be ready to sign an agreement stating that they own all rights to their film and its components ahead of screening at Emberlight.

5. Finalists are responsible for delivering their festival exhibition copy, trailer, screener link, press stills and press-kit on time.

FAQ:

Q: I want to submit a film from overseas. Is it eligible for Emberlight?
Answer: We accept submissions from anywhere in the world that is able to send online payments to the United States. We just ask that all foreign language films have English subtitles.

Q: What genres do you accept?
Answer: We accept all genres and do not rule out anything.

Q. Do you have a separate category for student short films?
Answer: No, but we do have a special award for a Young Michigan Filmmakers. Entrants must submit to one of our main award categories and be 30 years of age or younger and residing in Michigan for eligibility.

Q. Do you only accept premieres?
We DO NOT require premieres. We just ask that you only submit films that completed production within the last 5 calendar years.

Q. Do you accept foreign language films?
Yes, but all foreign-language films must have English subtitles.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Boudra Ali

    We are very happy to participate in this wonderful festival, and it is very nice that the audience responded to the film’s story. Many thanks to all the members of the festival and the jury. We hope that the next edition, will also be enjoyable.

    September 2023
  • We were surprised and delighted to learn that our very humble little flimsy OCCURRENCES OF QUESTIONABLE SIGNIFICANCE won the BEST EXPERIMENTAL SHORT AWARD at Emberlight. This way, we might have reached a Michigan cinema audience. What a treat! So, I daresay I shall submit another film next year. Keep up the good cultural work and enrich Americ with foreign perspectives in all the arts.

    September 2023
  • David Zax

    This is a stellar young festival in a beautiful part of the country. Colton is a great programmer and communicator, and I was delighted to win the Emberlight Choice award, after playing to an audience of 250 people. Thank you!

    September 2023
  • Neil West

    A beautiful festival with outstanding communication. We were honoured to be steered here and to win an award. Thankyou to everyone at the festival. It was our pleasure to become part of the family!

    October 2022
  • Sriram Papolu

    This is a great and unique festival that I wish I could have attended in person. The film lineup was splendid and the communication was top notch. Colton Pometta is an absolutely wonderful person and even better Festival Director. Super glad that my film The Final Hours of South U Pizza was selected and welcomed.

    I will definitely be submitting my next films and highly encourage others around the word to do the same!

    September 2022