Following a break in 2025 we are delighted to invite you to enter our IMDb eligible short film festival that has been built to showcase and champion you and your whole team. We are returning to our roots, back to where it all began and where The RS FilmFest belongs.

The RS FilmFest has established itself as a Film Festival which you should feel proud to be a part of and is grabbing the attention of many industry professionals due to the fantastic opportunity to network both online and in person at the event.

The RS FilmFest is a professional event taking place at BessellScotts next November - date tbc. Our Q&A Panel will be announced via our Social Media channels.

You could be in with a chance of receiving the following:

- An official selection Laurel for your poster.
- A golden winners Laurel.
- A screening for the winners of each category.
- Trophy & Certificate for the winner.
- Certificate for Special Mentions.
- In-Person Film Festival with Q&A's from industry professionals.
- Event Programme.
- Welcome drink.
- Fantastic networking opportunities.
- Professional photos for you to save & use.
- Our social media pages at your disposal to champion your project and future ones.

We have well respected judges within the industry who are themselves filmmakers, performers and professionals actively creating new projects and working on high profile productions.

Awards & Prizes

We offer a range of awards and prizes. Categories are:
- Best Actor
- Best Actress
- Best Trailer
- Best Soundtrack
- Best Student Film
- Drama
- Action
- Horror
- Comedy
- Documentary
- Music Video

AND continuing for 2025/2026 ....
- The Creative Queens Award

We also have a selection of special awards which have previously included "Student Filmmaker of the Year" "Filmmaker of the Year" "Best Young Performer" "Best location & Costume", "Best Collaboration" and "Judges Choice" These are decided across all entrants.

Finalists receive inclusion within the event programme, with winners receiving a Gold winners laurel, certificate and an engraved trophy.

Rules & Terms

In-Person Film Festival tickets are not included within the entry fee but entrants will gain first option for priority tickets to ensure they don't miss out on attending.

Judging is impartial and taken seriously. Each film is viewed by our selected panel who provide their feedback. All is gathered and final choices made. Individual feedback is available by emailing sophie@sascreative.info

No bribary is allowed and if being found doing so will result in future submissions not being accepted.

Entry fees & tickets are non refundable. In the event of cancellation, submissions and tickets will be carried over to the next festival.

51 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Aaron Dorey

    This Festival for the past few years has been the highlight of my year. I have met some very valuable contacts at their event, who i have worked with as part of my core team since.
    Sophie, The Host deeply cares about helping build peoples careers and creating an environment where we can celebrate our hard work, nerwork and advance!

    This festival is not afraid to take risks. some pay off ans others not so much. when it's focus is on it's brief this is a Festival i fully recommend.

    May 2025
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Thankyou so much for this - as you know it is making a return to its former venue and its original heart. Thankyou for your kind words and for bearing with the festival!

  • Riyadh Haque

    You can clearly see the event organisers were trying to make a high-quality event but fell woefully short and despite passionate people and filmmakers involved, the films and selections were inconsistent. The price of tickets and what you received was not proportional: the venue (a club, of all places) was ill-equipped with weak seating arrangements (often, pillars obstructed line of sight to the screen), very poor speakers; screen was not great; lighting intermittently turned on and off during films; the screening had many issues with playback and quality... All in all, a poor screening situation. The nominations and order of the event was mixed, the event lasted far too long and ended in a damp squib.

    Lots to improve upon but the hosts were nice and email communication was invariably fine. The social media leading up to the event was pretty strong so kudos to that element.

    January 2025
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    You are completely correct in everything you have said. The place that we used for the event you attended was the first time we had ever used it. Historically we have always used BessellScotts but the mistake was made of trying to turn The RS FilmFest into something its not. The venue made every assurance that the Technology was on point, that there would be allocated Tech Support, that they had the sound perfect. This was tested in the week leading up to the event and all sounded really good but on the actual day everything fell way short of the standard that was expected. It was disappointing, a huge lesson learnt and I can only apologise. The RS FilmFest is returning to its roots and I would love for you to come and experience it as its original format.

  • Sasha Devey

    I was pleased to be a finalist at the RS FilmFest and booked my tickets for the event, but unfortunately I had an unavoidable commitment arise which meant that I couldn't attend.

    The festival were happy to refund my tickets, which I'm grateful for, but unfortunately the festival have failed to publish any of the category outcomes. I've emailed a few times now to enquire which film won the category I entered into, but have received no reply.

    I actually have no idea if my film won at this point. Like with many finished festivals on FilmFreeway, my film is still marked as 'in consideration'.

    It's disappointing that the results and outcomes of this festival seem confined to the knowledge of those who were able to attend it - it makes them seem incredibly small and insignificant, and more than anything highlights the lack of bearing that paying to enter this festival has on your actual life.

    It's disappointing that I can't get a straight answer about which film won the category I entered.

    December 2024
    Helpful
  • Nikki Simon

    Great festival. Than you for the welcome 'Toby' received. Much appreciated.

    December 2024
    Helpful
  • Camilla Roman

    I'm sure the actual event was good, but I can't comment on that, as I was not there. I was happy my film was Official Selection, but after seeing in one of the comments below, made by the festival, that "187 films were submitted. Over 150 were officially selected", I don't see the point when almost every film is OS. Unless you're a finalist you don't hear from them again.

    December 2024
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Hi Camilla, an Official Selection means that a film was considered of a certain quality to be accepted into the festival - this does not mean that the film is a finalist or is screened. This festival prides itself on the fact that every film submitted is reviewed first rather than automatically receiving an official selection. It is stated once a film is accepted into the festival and being considered that you will hear again if you are a finalist. All of the finalists are shared across social media too. I feel this review, as someone who didn’t attend the festival, yet you are eating the hospitality and networking side of things is pretty unfair and unjust.