Think Film Festival

GENERAL RULES

Submission to the Think Film Festival constitutes an agreement with all festival terms and conditions, and permission to exhibit the work during the festival, if selected. Entrants warrant that they have the legal right to submit the work to ThinkFilm, that all statements made in this application are true and accurate, and that all necessary rights and clearances have been secured to exhibit the work at the festival.

Submitted work must have been completed after January 1, 2025.

Films accepted to screen at the festival will be programmed in competitive and non-competitive categories at the sole discretion of ThinkFilm, and may be accepted into a category other than the one to which it was submitted. Films not accepted into a juried competition may still be eligible for an Audience Award, as determined by the ThinkFilm programming committee.

Venue(s), program time(s) and number of screenings of selected work are also at the sole discretion of ThinkFilm. The number of scheduling slots available for competitive and non-competitive narrative features, documentary features and short films may vary from year to year.

ThinkFilm DOES NOT provide screening fees or honorariums for submitted work — or for any film screening as part of the festival’s juried competition.

ThinkFilm may deny acceptance of any film at its sole discretion.

ENTRY FEES ARE NON-REFUNDABLE. Please note: if the ThinkFilm Festival is canceled or completely virtual because of an act of God, natural disaster, epidemic, or for any other reason beyond our control, submission fees cannot be refunded.

Online screeners must be provided for submissions to be reviewed by the ThinkFilm programming committee. (In Vimeo, please set the "Where Can This Be Embedded?" privacy setting to "Anywhere" to allow our screening committee to view the film within our review platform. Also, enabling “Watch Later” will give committee members greater flexibility by allowing them to watch your film on TVs and set-top devices enabled with the Vimeo app.)

Entrants will be notified of their submission’s selection status on or before April 1st. If accepted, the entrant agrees to provide an exhibition file in ThinkFilm's required format by April 10th.

Accepted feature films and most short films are required to deliver a ProRes 422 Quicktime File. Final format required for filmmakers is determined by the ThinkFilm schedule.

Foreign language films must be subtitled in English. Any costs necessary to deliver the exhibition file to ThinkFilm in the required format, or for any necessary subtitling, is the sole responsibility of the entrant.

All accepted films grant ThinkFilm and their designated agents permission to utilize clips, trailers, and images from the film for ThinkFilm and Think Film Festival promotional content. The entrant agrees to notify ThinkFilm if or when they may lose ownership of the clips, trailers, and images and no longer be able to grant said permission.

If the submission becomes an "Official Selection" and/or wins a Jury or Audience Award, ThinkFilm requests that this be noted on promotional materials. Festival laurels are available to all Official Selections and Award winners.

All materials sent from outside the United States must be sent "free domicile" to the ThinkFilm office, with all transportation charges, duties and taxes prepaid by shipper. ThinkFilm will not handle customs clearances, so please be sure to include all of the proper customs documentation required by your shipping service. ThinkFilm will cover return shipping to the address designated as the Print Source, or to another festival or destination, within the continental United States via ground shipping.

Although every possible care will be taken with exhibition material in our possession, ThinkFilm is not responsible for loss or damage. Please do not send originals, special prints or master tapes.