WHAT IS THE WHITE DEER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL?
We are hosts of online bi-monthly awards which culminate in an annual celebration of exciting cinematic experiences, not always featured in the mainstream media. Nestled in the heart of Britain, White Deer IFF welcomes all filmmakers to enter their projects into a variety of award categories, to be judged by industry award-winners & film-loving audiences from across the global community. With the aspiration of growing names and talents, White Deer IFF also offers winning entrants the opportunity to share their filmmaking experiences on its podcast and social channels, through interviews and discussions about their projects. If you’re curious to know more, please email podcast@whitedeerfest.co.uk or message us on our social media.

WHITE DEER IFF & THE EAST MIDLANDS
At White Deer IFF we believe it is essential to foster the potential of filmmakers who are outside the typical “hotspots” within the UK film industry. Our ethos is that filmmakers can, and should, have opportunities in locations across the world, and not only in big cities. In particular, we are committed to promoting the talents of individuals and groups within a region very close to our heart, the East Midlands, UK. It is here where White Deer IFF was formed, and is based, but also where not enough filmmakers are given the exposure that they deserve. Therefore, we have decided to host separate award categories solely for East Midlands-based applicants, so that many more films from this area can be brought to the attention of global audiences. These categories will be discounted; however, all approved applicants will have the option to "top-up" to our 'Main' Categories, to be judged alongside global competition at a fair and equal cost to all. It is our hope that this will increase the exposure of East Midlands’ production talent. After all, this beautiful part of the UK has many stories to tell, and we will do our best to see them told.

Awards & Prizes

ONLINE BI-MONTHLY AWARD ROUNDS
Our 2019/2020 bi-monthly rounds will run as follows:

September/October,
November/December,
January/February,
March/April,
May/June,
July/August

We will announce our bi-monthly winners after submissions close at the end of each round (i.e. in the following months October, December, February, April, June, and August).​​​​​​​

Films will be judged in the following categories:
EAST MIDLANDS
Best East Midlands Feature
Best East Midlands Short
Best East Midlands Microshort

MAIN
Best Feature
Best Short
Best Microshort

GENRE
Best Drama
Best Feature Documentary
Best Documentary
Best Action
Best Sci Fi
Best Thriller
Best Comedy
Best Horror
Best Romance
Best Experimental
Best Music Video
Best Animation

TECHNICAL
Best Director
Best Writing
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Ensemble Cast
Best Art Direction
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Visual Effects
Best Hair & Makeup
Best Sound Design
Best Soundtrack
Best Trailer

‘Technical’ and ‘Genre’ entries MUST also enter the appropriate ‘Best Feature’ category (i.e. ‘Best East Midlands Feature’ or ‘Best Feature’) if their film has a runtime above 45 minutes.

ANNUAL COMPETITION & SCREENING EVENT
Winners from all bi-monthly rounds will be automatically entered into our annual competition. Here they will be judged alongside their fellow bi-monthly winners to potentially win an annual award and a White Deer IFF GOLD laurel.

Due to capacity, we are currently only able to invite winners from the bi-monthly 'East Midlands' and 'Main' categories to attend this event and see their entries screened. These annual winners will also be awarded certificates.​​​​​​​

LAURELS
All bi-monthly official selections will receive a BRONZE bi-monthly laurel.
All bi-monthly round winners will receive a SILVER bi-monthly laurel.
All annual competition winners will receive a GOLD annual laurel.

Rules & Terms

GENERAL RULES
White Deer IFF hosts online rounds of bi-monthly filmmaking awards which culminate in an annual competition & screening event. To submit a film to our awards, you must have created the project yourself, own the rights or have permission from the owner of the content to submit the film to us.

All films must be submitted in a digital format.

Non-English films must have English subtitles.

WE DO NOT ACCEPT:
1. Amateur videos i.e. films with a poor production standard (bad sound, lack of subtitles/
captions for non-English films, video resolution less than 720p HD).
2. Pornography.
3. We do not currently accept scripts.

We reserve the right to disqualify films which feature a significant political agenda.

FILM LENGTHS
Films of any length can be submitted to our festival, however, a couple of rules must be followed:
1. ‘East Midlands’ and ‘Main’ category films must be submitted to the correct time-based category, as per the following:

Feature films: this category is for films above 45 minutes in length.
Short Films: this category is for films between 5 and 45 minutes in length
Microshorts: this category is for films 5 minutes and below in length.

2. ‘Technical’ and ‘Genre’ entries MUST also enter the appropriate ‘Best Feature’ category (i.e. ‘Best East Midlands Feature’ or ‘Best Feature’) if their film has a runtime above 45 minutes.

PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THE TIMEFRAMES OF EACH CATEGORY.
FILMS MUST BE ENTERED INTO THE CORRECT TIME CATEGORY, ELSE BE
AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED FROM SELECTION.

EAST MIDLANDS SPECIFICATIONS
To qualify for the ‘East Midlands’ categories, your principle production crew must be based in an East Midlands, UK location (i.e. Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, and Rutland).

Applicants to the ‘East Midlands’ categories will have the option to "top-up" their entry by paying the remaining cost difference to qualify for the 'Main' categories. Once you have submitted to an 'East Midlands' category we can provide, on request, a waiver code which will allow a discounted entry into the equivalent 'Main' category i.e. 'Best East Midlands Microshort' would top-up to 'Best Microshort', 'Best East Midlands Short' would top-up to 'Best Short' & 'Best East Midlands Feature' would top-up to 'Best Feature'.

Submissions to any 'Technical' or 'Genre' category using this waiver code will not be counted.

'Technical' and 'Genre' categories are open to all applicants and do not feature a separate ‘East Midlands’ category. However, this may change if demand is seen to be high.