Almost every new filmmaker has the same plan: Finish the movie, get it into Sundance or SXSW or another major festival, and sell it for millions of dollars. The problem? We’ve already said it: Almost every new filmmaker has the same plan. With so many applying to the same festivals, again and again, many deserving films go undiscovered. That’s why we’ve developed the following list of 20 Great Film Festivals for First-Time Moviemakers.
To compile this list, we’ve examined the number of films submitted to each festival, and the number of films they accept, to help determine the ones where you have the best odds of getting in. We’ve also factored in what the festivals can actually do for you, in terms of getting attention, and, hopefully, distribution for your film. And we’ve weighed whether we think you’ll enjoy attending these festivals — based on their locations and what we know of the people who pour their hearts into running them.
A festival can’t help you unless you get in. So we urge you to research the festivals on this list as closely as possible and find the ones that you think are the absolute best match. We’ve included links to their FilmFreeway pages, which includes deadlines, costs, and reviews that can also help inform your festival strategy.
Feel free to post questions or thoughts in the comments section below, or to hit us up on Twitter or Instagram. We want this list to be as helpful as possible. And with that, here are 20 Great Film Festivals for First-Time Moviemakers.
Anchorage International Film Festival
Anchorage, Alaska / December 2-11
Besides being a bucket-list destination, Anchorage has a very favorable ratio of submitted-to- accepted films, meaning your odds are better here than with most festivals. If you do get in, you also have better-than-typical odds of winning an award. The organizers pay close attention to detail, and are devoted to attracting a wide swath of filmmakers from all over the world, and promoting and expanding film in Alaska. This is also a well-established festival, now celebrating its 22nd year.
Atlanta, Georgia / 2023
Atlanta has a surprisingly favorable submission-to-acceptance ratio given its size and prestige. It programs unknowns side-by-side with buzzed-about films like Sundance breakouts Cha Cha Real Smooth (which Apple purchased for a whopping $15 million) and Emily the Criminal, starring Aubrey Plaza. The festival also offers a highly regarded screenplay competition. It is well-organized and communicative with filmmakers, and offers sizable contributions toward filmmaker travel, and you might even go home with some prize money or an award: Its purse exceeds $100,000, and it hands out more than 20 awards. You could say we triply endorse Atlanta: Not only is the festival on our list of 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee, but its screenwriting competition is on our list of 15 Submission-Worthy Screenplay Competitions — and Atlanta itself is the No. 3 city on our list of the Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker. It just wrapped its 2022 edition, so you have plenty of time to plan for next year.
Breckenridge, Colorado / September 15-18
The ratio of submitted-to-accepted films is terrific, as is the ratio of selected films to award winners. This is also an intriguing, detail-oriented festival in a beautiful, mountainous destination about 100 miles from Denver that you might not have an occasion to visit if not for the fest. The event also encourages you to combine films and fresh air, offering tips on where to hike and enjoy the great outdoors during your visit.
Chagrin Falls, Ohio / October 5-9
This inspiring, encouraging festival is one of the most welcoming to young documentary filmmakers. It was created in honor of filmmaker David Ponce, who led the award-winning documentary The Lost Sparrows of Roodeport before dying at only 20 of leukemia in 2006. His mother, Mary Ann Ponce, directs the festival with precision and grace, growing it from the ground up and helping countless documentarians find audiences and distribution for their stories. It has a fairly favorable ratio of submissions to accepted films, and those accepted have a decent chance of winning an award. Categories include Best Local Documentary and Emerging Filmmaker. There are also excellent opportunities to get to know fellow filmmakers.
Charlie Buhler’s Before the Fire played Cinequest in 2020
Cinequest Film and Creativity Festival
San Jose, California / February 28-March 12, 2023
Though it emphasizes the melding of great cinema and cutting-edge technology, Cinequest also deserves credit for finding and amplifying exciting new filmmakers: Nadine Crocker’s Continue was one of the new discoveries out of this year’s festival, and Charlie Buhler’s Before the Fire, which premiered at the festival in March 2020, eerily predicted the stages of the pandemic as it was just beginning to alter normal life in the United States. The ratio of submitted to accepted films is fairly favorable, and distributors turn out in force — Before the Fire, for example, sold to Showtime. Cinequest also draws A-listers in part through its Maverick Spirit Awards, which have recognized artists including Harrison Ford, Spike Lee, and recent MovieMaker cover story subject Nicolas Cage. And it’s one of our 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee.
Deep in the Heart Film Festival
Waco, Texas / July 21-24
“Waco is made for movies,” announces the festival’s website, which also makes its welcoming attitude clear with a blurb entitled “What Is a Film Festival?,” because, hey, not everyone is a movie fanatic. DITH has a very favorable ratio of submitted to accepted films, and those that get in have a solid chance of winning an award, and it’s known for throwing great parties, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to meet future collaborators. Though only six years old, the festival lures an impressive number of world and Texas premieres – two dozen this year alone. You’re also close to opportunities for horseback riding and cruising the Brazos River. And if you consider no journey to the movies complete without a cold soft drink, you may also want to check out the nearby Dr. Pepper Museum.
A scene from the marvelously inventive recent Fantasia film Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes, by Junta Yamaguchi.
Montreal, Canada / July 14-August 3
Fantasia is a huge festival, the kind that can help launch careers, but it also has a passionate commitment to discovering the new, unusual and unexpected. This Montreal-based, three-week festival packs in screenings, and makes every single one feel like an event. It’s a great discovery festival, where we learned about some of our favorite indie filmmakers for the first time, including Mickey Reece, whose Climate of the Hunter played Fantasia in 2020. Its submission-to-acceptance ratio isn’t the most favorable on this list, but it’s still quite good considering the caliber of the fest and the immense buzz it helps build around films and filmmakers. It’s another of our 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee, and is celebrating its 26th edition.
Fort Worth, Texas / November 10-12
Drawing beloved Texans like Richard Linklater and Ethan Hawke, this festival doesn’t have the most favorable submitted-to-accepted ratio on this list, but it’s certainly good enough for you to take your chances. Exceedingly well-curated, it has welcomed recent films including Jockey and A Hidden Life, and is known for beautiful venues like the Fort Worth Modern Art Museum. Attending the festival will also give you a chance to check out booming Fort Worth, one of many Texas cities enjoying/enduring a recent influx of Californians. It’s one of our Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker.
Los Angeles, California / July 11-17
Celebrating only its fourth year, this young BIPOC-focused festival is quickly building a strong reputation, so the time to build a relationship with it is right now. If your film is good, so are your chances of getting in. And if you do, the festival is also generous with awards. It has drawn solid press attention, and lures an impressive industry crowd given its home base in the movie capital of the world. Micheaux has also earned the backing of The Oprah Winfrey Network, Sony Pictures, and more, and offers generous prizes: last year it partnered with Panavision to give out $75,000 in grants.
Telluride, Colorado / May 25-29, 2023
Boasting the most favorable submission-to-acceptance ratio of any documentary film festival on this list, Mountainfilm describes itself as not just a festival, but a community. It’s in a gorgeous location and is generous in terms of helping invited filmmakers with flights and lodging. Wondering if your film is a good fit? Just click on over to its list of films, many of which are available for viewing. I quite enjoyed Jeff Seal’s “Adventures of a Hobo Clown King.”
National Film Festival for Talented Youth
Seattle, Washington / April 27-30
One advantage of this festival, with a highly favorable submission-to-accepted ratio, is that it is all about discovering new talent — particularly, as its name explains, youth talent. NFFTY aims to repair the exclusion of past generations by highlighting work by women, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ filmmakers, as well as those from other traditionally marginalized communities. One alum is Kevin Klaubner, editor of the Oscar-winning 20 Feet From Stardom, who calls it “the most positive festival I’ve ever been to.”
A scene from the recent NFMLA film “They Keep Quiet So We Make Noise,” by Marlena Skrobe
NFMLA (NewFilmmakers Los Angeles)
Los Angeles, California / monthly
NewFilmmakers Los Angeles is all about discovery, and focusing on filmmakers — from those with disabilities to military to LGBTQ+ to those who are older — who are sometimes ignored by Hollywood. It forms strong partnerships to make sure filmmakers’ work is seen by everyone from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to massive players including Sony Pictures Entertainment, Amazon Studios, Showtime, Netflix, Warner Bros., United Talent Agency, NBCUniversal, HBO, NEON, Endeavor, Starz, Bad Robot, Creative Artists Agency, Management 360, AMC Studios, MGM, FilmNation, ICM Partners, Lionsgate, Magnolia Pictures, Paramount, Circle of Confusion, MACRO, Skydance and Blumhouse. It can even boast an Oscar win: Rayka Zehtabchi’s “Period. End of Sentence” screened at NFMLA before going on to win for Best Documentary Short Subject. Best of all, NFMLA holds festivals every month, so you don’t have to wait a full year to enter.
Phoenix, Arizona / 2023
Arizona should be a bigger film center than it is — it’s one of our most gorgeous and cinematic states — but its position between California and the very film-friendly New Mexico, plus its lack of tax incentives, don’t do it any favors. Hopefully the Phoenix Film Festival can help rally support for the region’s industry. It welcomes new filmmakers with a pretty favorable submission-to-accepted ratio, and those who make it in have a decent chance of winning an award. The festival organizers are good at communicating and liaising with press. The festival has strong potential – just like its state — and entering could be a good way for a new filmmaker to be part of Arizona’s overdue cinematic growth. It returns next year after just wrapping its 2022 edition, in which Iman Zawahry’s Americanish took home Best Picture.
Poppy Jasper International Film Festival
Morgan Hill, California / 2023
Another meeting of a quality festival and quite favorable submission-to-accepted ratio — what’s not to like? Poppy Jasper is a very solid event across the board that spans two weeks and this year screened more than 150 films from 38 countries. It strongly emphasizes inclusion and gender equity, and it’s one of the more family friendly festivals, offering a special section for youth and high school films, as well as drive-in family movie nights. A solid press operation means your film has a decent chance of getting some media attention.
Queens, New York / November 15-November 20
This lovingly curated festival draws fierce loyalty for its commitment to filmmakers from Queens and beyond. Queens is one of the most diverse places on the planet, in every sense, and the festival reflects that with an open heart and boundless enthusiasm for new talent. It isn’t just a film festival, but an integral part of life in the borough: This Sunday, Queens World will take part in the Long Island City Springs! block party, providing an interactive pop-up red carpet experience, and later this month it will take part in a fully improvised theatrical experience. It will end Pride Month by showing shorts from the LGBTQIA+ community at Flushing Town Hall. But the best part of Queens World is the attention and care that hands-on executive director Katha Cato gives to every film.
Providence, Rhode Island / October 11-15
The submission-to-acceptance ratio is good; the number of awards handed out to accepted films is fantastic. If you get into SENE (pronounced “scene,” and it stands for Southeast New England) you have a much-better-than-average chance of winning something. This well- reviewed festival is also a great excuse to visit lovely Providence, one of the top smaller cities and towns on our list of — once again — the Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker.
A scene from a past Sidewalk Film Festival. Photo by Joe De Sciose
Birmingham, Alabama / August 22-28
This delightfully film-mad festival is just the highlight of a year-round commitment to film by the Sidewalk Film Center, a Southern film palace known for deliciously so-called high and low culture and finding the best of both. (At the time of this writing, its lineup includes both David Cronenberg’s new Crimes of the Future and A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge. The latter is billed as a Pride event recognizing “the gayest horror film ever made.”) Renowned as it is for great programming, Sidewalk has a fairly welcoming submission-to-acceptance ratio, and it represents a diehard film community any moviemaker should want to be a part of. Also, if you hold any narrow-minded, over-generalized opinions about all Alabamans, attending Sidewalk will cure that.
Minneapolis, Minnesota / November 9-13
Is music a big part of your film? This could be a great match. Founded in 1999, this Twin Cities festival has a pretty inviting submission-to-acceptance ratio, and a guaranteed passionate audience. Besides music features and docs like Sound of Metal and the Listening to Kenny G, it also welcomes short films, videos, and rare concert footage — as well as hosting panels and of course, live music. If you haven’t experienced the formidable charm of Minneapolis and St. Paul, this is a great reason to visit. And this is the only festival on this list that you can pair with a trip to Paisley Park.
Tacoma, Washington / October 6-13
Well-organized and professional, with a reasonably welcoming submission-to-acceptance ratio, this is a nurturing festival that rewards artistic ambition and is particularly partial to films from the Pacific Northwest, though it also has an undeniably international scope. Its thoughtfully curated, excellent selections include the recent documentary Since I Been Down, by sociology professor and filmmaker Dr. Gilda Sheppard. It’s also fairly generous with prizes. This is a solid, well-respected festival deserving of your efforts.
A scene from the 2022 Slamdance film Therapy Dogs.
Park City, Utah / 2023
Slamdance isn’t at all easy to get into, because it has so many applicants, but it loves wild cards. The festival cares more about passion and innovation than polish, embracing films with small budgets and big ideas, and rewards moviemakers who take bold risks. Christopher Nolan and the Russo brothers are among filmmakers whose careers got a boost from early Slamdance attention. One recent success story is Ethan Eng’s Therapy Dogs, which the 21-year-old filmmaker shot in secret during his senior year of high school. It won the ABGO Fellowship from Anthony and Joe Russo, which includes $25,000 and mentoring from the Russos. Slamdance is also one of our Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker, and it demonstrated its own knack for innovation this year by launching SlamdanceChannel.com, featuring Slamdance films from throughout the festival’s storied history.
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