1. The Short Film
Context
Part Five

2. UK’s preeminent short film festivals

3. Raindance
What is the submission process?
The festival accepts any feature films (over 45 minutes), short films (under 45 minutes), music videos (under 6 minutes) VR films (under 45 minutes) and web series
of any length and genre.
Submissions are open via withoutabox or filmfreeway only.
Categories include:
• Narrative Feature
• Documentary Feature
• Narrative Short
• Documentary Short
• Animation Short
• Music Video
• LGBT (Feature)
• Virtual Reality
Festival Strands include:
• In Competition
• Discovery
• Documentaries
• Official Selection
• Raindance LGBT
• Special Screenings
• Raindance Symphony Orchestra
• Shorts
• Music Videos
• Raindance Web Fest
Selection
Submissions are reviewed and selected under the following criteria:
– Quality of narrative and production values.
– Independent nature of the production.
Submission deadlines and fees
22nd April - Early Deadline - Features: £55 - Shorts: £25 - Music Video: £25
20th May - Regular Deadline - Features: £70 - Shorts: £35 - Music Video:
£35
10th June - Late Deadline - Features: £100 - Shorts: £ 50 - Music Video:
£50
17th June - WAB Extended Deadline - Feature: £150 - Shorts: £80 - Music
Video: £80
Is the festival competitive?
As the film festival is open to international entries,
rather than just UK submission, it suggests that the
festival will be very competitive as filmmakers
across the globe will be wanting to achieve the
rewards Raindance offers.
Filmmakers have a chance of winning:
– Best Film
– Best Director
– Best Screenplay
– Best Actor
– Best Actress
– Best UK Feature
– Best Documentary Feature
– Discovery Award
– Best Short
– Best UK Short
– Best Music Video
What are the rewards for winners?
Selected shorts will be authorised for Oscar and
BAFTA nominations and those who compete are
eligible for entry as the BIFA’s (British Independent
Film Awards)

4. Manchester International Film Festival
What is the submission process?
Submissions for the Manchester Film Festival 2017 via
Withoutabox and FilmFreeway. The application is submitted
through one of the festivals approved submission partners.
Categories include:
- UK Narrative Features: run time of 60 minutes, must be able to pass as
a British film using the criteria of the BFI
- Documentary Features: run time of over 60 minutes
- International Narrative Shorts: run time of between 1 and 59 minutes
- Documentary Shorts: run time between 1 and 59 minutes
- Experimental Films: any run time, can be a short or a feature but must
have a visually original style of storytelling
- Music Videos: 10 minute time max, submitted by an independent or
established artist
- International Narrative Features: run time of 60 minutes
- UK Narrative Shorts: run time between 1 and 59 minutes
- Student Films: any run time, short or feature, must be submitted in
English, must be completed whilst in education
- Animation: any run time, short or feature
- Uncommissioned Screenplay: any original screenplay of any length
Submission Dates
• 22nd June 2016: Early Deadline
• 7th September 2016: Regular Deadline
• 19th October 2016: Late Deadline
• 16th November 2016: Extended Deadline
Rules and Conditions:
• All films must have been completed after the 1st of January 2015 and
not received more than 50% of their funding from a studio or
broadcaster.
• All films not in the English language are required to have subtitles.
Is the festival competitive?
The festival is competitive as for every category that is listed there will be
rewards given for the selected film

5. Aesthetica Film Festival
What is the submission process?
When submitting your film, you must include a contact detail so that the festival will be able to update you on
whether the film has been selected or not.
Is the festival competitive?
From the following list of prizes, it is apparent that the festival is competitive.
Prizes include:
▪ Screenings at BAFTA Qualifying ASFF 2017
▪ Awards: Festival Winner, People’s Choice, Best of Category
▪ New Award: £1,000 The Northern Film School Best Screenplay Award
▪ Eligibility to enter the EE British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA)
▪ Editorial in Aesthetica Magazine and promotion via Aesthetica’s online channels (readership 284,000)

6.
What are the rewards for winners?
As well as the list of prizes, the winners of the
festival can be taken into consideration for
nominations at the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts & Sciences to go onto being submitted for
the Live Action and Animated Short Film
categories of the Oscars. As well as this, the
shorts can be selected for submission for the
British Academy of Film & Television Arts in the
British Short Film category.
Leeds International Film Festival
What is the submission process?
The main way filmmakers can enter this festival is
through the services of FilmFreeway and
Withoutabox.
Is the festival competitive?
As the festival offers awards for chosen films, we can assume that it is
competitive as filmmakers will want to win the prize. As well as this, the
entries expand internationally, therefore meaning that the level of
competition increases as there is competition all around the world.
The awards include:
- Leeds Audience Award for Best Fiction
- Leeds Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature
- Leeds Short Film Audience Award
- Dark Owl International Fantasy Short Film Audience Award
- Dead Shorts Audience Award
- Louis le Prince International Short Film Competition – cash prize
£1,000
- World Animation Competition – cash prize £1,000
- British Short Film Competition – cash prize £1,000
- Yorkshire Short Film Competition – cash prize £500
- Leeds International Screendance Competition – cash prize £500
- Leeds International Music Video Competition

7. What are the rewards for winners?
Best British Short Film - Judged by the London Short Film Festival's Best British Short Jury, the winning
filmmaker will receive a £1000 prize, as funded by the British Council. The winning film will also be nominated
for the European Critics Circle Award.
Best International Short Film - The winning filmmaker will have the opportunity to broadcast their film on
ShortsTV
Best Animated Short Film - The winning filmmaker will receive a delegate pass, allowing entry to select
screenings, events and networking opportunities during the festival week
Best Experimental Short Film - free ICA membership for the year, plus 14 free film tickets
Best Cinematography - Kodak are awarding 4000ft of 16mm or 35mm Kodak Motion Picture film stock.
Best Comedy Short Film - The LOCO London Comedy Film Festival are offering the winning short filmmaker
an Access All Areas Training Pass to all training sessions at LOCO in April 2016, including a place on their
Kickstart Your Comedy Career Course.
Best Lo-Budget Short Film - The winning filmmaker will receive a beautiful Lomo'Instant camera, along with a
pack of film
Best London Short Film - by giving the winner an exclusive interview showcase plus a Londonist goody-bag.
Best Documentary Short Film - will receive a full industry pass to the Festival, along with the opportunity to
screen their film at the festival in June.
LSFF Rising Star - The aim of the MMBF Rising Star Award is to encourage new and emerging filmmakers
and actors by publicising their talent and supporting their future work.
Best Student Short Film - Shooting People award the best student filmmaker free lifetime membership to the
Shooting People network.
Best Woman Director - Women in Film and TV UK is the leading membership organisation for women working
in creative media in the UK.
London Short Film Festival
What is the submission process?
Submissions for the festival are progressed through the online
submission platforms such as Flock and Film Freeway
Submissions are open to short films from every genre. They are open
to any of the following genres: drama, comedy, horror & sci-fi,
documentary, experimental, animation, music, viral and low-budget
work.
Films must have been completed after August 2015.
Films must be no longer than 45 minutes.
LSFF does not require any premiere status.
LSFF accepts UK and international submissions.
Should your film be selected, you will be required to provide a
Quicktime ProRes file and a DCP of your film.
This is followed by the list of deadlines and fees:
• UK Early bird deadline - Sunday 1 May: £15
• UK Regular deadline - Sunday 31 July: £20
• UK Late deadline - Sunday 28 August: £30
• Lo-budget films under 5 minutes - £5 (all deadlines)
• International submissions - £30/$40 (all deadlines)
• International Lo-budget - £10/$15
Is the festival competitive?
The festival awards shorts with a variation of prizes and
judging by this factor, we can gather that the festival is
then very competitive as all participants will be aiming to
achieve the highest accolade possible.

8. Is the festival competitive?
We can gather that the festival is competitive due to the following awards:
The Award for Best Documentary Feature
The McLaren Award for New British Animation (supported by the British Council)
The Award for Best Short Film
The Audience Award
The Award for Best International Feature Film
The Award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film
The Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film
Edinburgh Internation Film Festival
What is the submission process?
The submission process is completed on their website with the help of IMBD and Withoutabox

9. Awards are as followed:
Main Awards:
Brief Grand Prix
Animated Grand Prix
UWE European New Talent Short Film Awards
UWE European New Talent Animation Award
Chris Collins Best of British Award – Live Action
NextGen Skills Academy Best of British Award – Animation
Mixed Awards:
Music Video Award
Documentary Award
Children’s Award
Audience Award
Encounters
What is the submission process?
Encounters is titles as “the UK’s leading short
film animation festival, meaning that is
established enough to have decent public
awareness, allowing them to include a
submissions process via their own website
Is the festival competitive?
They have identified prizes and rewards for
the selected films meaning that there is a
level of competition in the festival as
filmmakers will want to obtain them.

10. UK’s preeminent short film
festivals:
Further Analysis

11. Which are feature film festivals that have important shorts sections and which are festivals dedicated exclusively to the
short form?
LIFF is presented as a festival that holds a focus on feature films, but has an important section for shorts. I can tell this by
the prizes that are available; the majority being on features, Leeds Audience Award for Best Fiction Feature, with some
crediting high quality shorts, Leeds Short Film Audience Award. As the festival has created to sections for the awards,
audience and jury, it can perhaps be interpreted that the festival hold both features and shorts at an equal level, both giving
them the chance to be judged by a jury and audience without favouring the other.
How do the festivals market and promote themselves?
The first initial response of the home page of the website is that they have
promoted themselves as a professional company. We can tell this from the
use of simple black fonts for the titles and featured news as well as the use
of the colour red, both of which are seen as more mature colours. Above
the main news, they have used a high quality, clear image of a still from
James Bond. The choice in graphic again markets them as professional as
still is not busy and hectic, but includes a large degree of negative space,
making it simple, easy to understand and more presentable on the page.
From here, they have social media links for the platforms, Instagram,
Twitter and Facebook; as well as including an opportunity to allow the
reader to sign up to their newsletter. This progresses them onto a wider
audience and market, as by directly getting involved with popular social
medias, the chances of more recognition and submissions increases.
Futhermore, when you scroll down on the home page there is an active
Twitter feed, showing all tweets sent out by the festival. They also have
included another promotion of their twitter by placing their account name
above the feed, giving the readers another chance to contact them and
boost promotion. By including the social media platforms on the first page,
it shows the festival to be modern and up to date, marketing them well as
being a festival, it shows they are actively involved with the evolution of
online content and media in general. The lexis and syntax of the language
used in some of the featured articles suggests that the festival is promoted
as very film literate, a quality you expect from a film festival, however it
presents them as intelligent and, again, professional.

12. What have you noticed about the structure/style of the
sites?
I have noticed that the structure of the site is very clear and
simple to follow, making the task of researching very straight-
forward. As well as this, it makes it more presentable for the
festival to relay important information or promotion to the public. If
someone has only just heard about the festival or if a new
filmmaker want to submit their work, the site is structured orderly
and clearly almost eliminating any feeling of isolation into the
culture of film festivals and making the submission process more
time effective. It is also easily accessible as their is a direct
search tab fro any user who needs to find something quickly.
The style of the website is quite modern and 'up to date' with the
time period as the colour palette used is very minimalistic, yet
bold and striking and only basic fonts are used making the style
look more neat.
How are they supported?
As mentioned previously, the festival is funded by the BFI Film Forever, The
National Lottery Fund, co-funded by the European Union, Creative Europe
Media. Supporters include a variety of cinema companies such as Cottage
Road Cinema and Film Hub North as they are the leading exhibitors for
shorts amongst the mainstream content. They are also supported by various
educational institutes such as the University of Leeds and Leeds Beckett
University as they are aiming to support the creative education as well as
celebrate and give opportunities to students wanting to progress into the
industry.

13. What have you noticed about the structure/style of the sites?
My first impression of the site was that it followed the similar
conventions of the majority of the film festivals websites. As
others, to only has a limited colour palette, only using black, white
and green, which in turns allows the style of the site to look neat
and approachable. This in turn also highlights how the structure of
the website is incredibly user friendly as the five main pages are
clearly linked above and hold any information that those who are
aiming to submit their work into or who are interested can find.
There is a particular sense of personality that s created by the
style of the site as it includes a bold quote, “Life is great. Without it
you’d be dead.” It sets a freeing tone to the site as the quote is
clever and thought-provoking, a mindset they may want to uphold
with the audience as the shorts they are screening. I have noted
that the style and tone of the site is almost a reflection of what
shorts they are screening.
London Short Film Festival
How do the festivals market and promote themselves?
As the majority of the festivals I have looked at, the main source of
promotions os through their own website as it acts as a direct link
to all informations as well as a representing form of what the
festival is. Alongside this, they also use their Twitter page which
also has a live feed linked into their main website. By using widely
known social platforms, it shows that the festival is try to market
themselves to a wider audience as millions of people can see
what they are talking about.
Who attends them?
The variation of short film supporters and high profile companies that
support the festival are listed for attendance due to their involvement
with the festival itself or the short that is being screened.
How are they supported?
Listed funders:
BFI Film Forever
National Lottery Arts Council England
Listed sponsors:
British council, Creative England, MUBI, University of the Arts London
Industry Programme:
The Guardian, London Film Academy, Shooting People
Awards Partners:
British Council, Encounters, Kodak, Shooting People
Media Partners:
Aesthetic, Little White Lies, Londonist

14. What have you noticed about the structure/style of the sites?
The site mainly uses read and white as their main colour palette which connotes a sense of a professional tone as the
feature of red can suggest more of a mature colour and therefore could mean the festival is target at those with a deeper
understanding of film and are perhaps film literate. The structure of the site is easy to navigate but if compared to others,
looks the most busiest and, in a harsher light, messy. Although, this does not deduct anything from the ability to find the
necessary information.
Edinburgh Film Festival
How do the festivals market and promote themselves?
The festival holds its main focus of marketing and promotion through the main hub of their site as that is where the main central
information is, and where the main focus of branding lies as this is a key part in how they are presenting themselves. However, this
festival again follows the conventions of others by including links via social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. This
expands there platform as with these connections they can easily market and promote themselves.
How are they supported?
Official Car Partner – Volvo Cars
Official Ice Cream Partner – Graham’s The Family Dairy
Official Venue Partners:
Creative Scotland
BFI
EventScotland
The Scottish Government
The City of Edinburgh Council

15. What have you noticed about the structure/style of the sites?
My first impressions of the site is that the presentation is extremely simple and professional, promoting easy use and clear key
information regarding the festival. The main structural choice from the company was to place a showreel of the screened films as well
as screen caps from the screened shorts. This suggests that the company wants to strike the viewer of the professional style and
achievements as well as talent that they have found and accomplished. The choice of colour, turquoise and grey, suggests a calming
yet professional tone to the festival as it creates a creative identity of the festival that goes hand in hand with how the structure is very
simple and minimalistic.
Encounters
How do the festivals market and promote themselves?
The festival predominantly uses their website to market and promote themselves as it stands out as their main hub of information. At the top of their website
they have included links to their social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo and Youtube. By including the direct link, it allows the audience to be more
connected with what’s going on with the festival and to give them an opportunity to become more interested, not only in the festival, but with the industry as a
whole.
How are they supported?
The website claims to have a wide variety of strong links with around 700 film,
animation and creative representatives across the world. A few of the listed
supporters are Aardman Animations, Nextgen and Yellowdog.
The festival also lists companies such as Aesthetica, Shooting People and
Shorts TV as it;s key media partners as well as having many more in support of
their festival.
It is listed as having the BFI Film Forever National Lottery Fund, Bristol City
Council and Creative Europe Media as its main funders, UWE Bristol, Aardman
and IMDB as its main sponsors, the University of Gloucestershire as its key
educational partner and finally Watershed as its main partner.

16. What have you noticed about the structure/style of the sites?
The site is very basic, just like all the others, and
uses a limited colour palette. Its main colour is green,
which could symbolise the more organic approach
they have due to their non-profitable motives and that
they are only interested in film. The structure is very
easy to navigate which helps when trying to find
information. It is designed to be extremely user
friendly as, in the case that the user cannot find the
information they are after, there is a clear search tab
which makes the task faster and more simple.
Soho shorts
How do the festivals market and promote
themselves?
As like the others, this festival uses its main
site to direct those who are interested and
draws them in by their easy to use structured
site. The majority of effort lies in the site as its
the first direct association with the festivals
brand and identity. Further from this, the
festival is on the platforms Twitter, Facebook
and Reddit, not only giving them a wide
platform to address their audience, but
portrays them to be accepting of all knowledge
and understanding of film, therefore marketing
them in a diverse sector.
How are they supported?
This festival isn't as supported as it is a non-
profitable organisation only dedicated to
providing filmmakers with the opportunities
to connect and screen their work.

17. What have you noticed about the structure/style of the sites?
This was slightly more difficult to navigate as the information was not
categorised into page links that I saw on other sites. However, once you
found the correct place you could easily gather information; a helpful
resource was the online brochure. The style of the site was again very
simple and not too overbearing. The choice of colour reflects their targeted
audience and perhaps the quality of films they screen as red connotes a
sense of maturity. The combination between the red, blue and white could
suggest some form of patriotism as this festival is the key representation of
British film talent; the choice in colour suggests that they take this serious
and have a high expectation to present the very best of British talent.
London Film Festival
How do the festivals market and promote themselves?
The site hold the most promotion as that is where the main information is. They have created an online brochure regarding
the past festivals which gives the user a clear over view on what the festival is like and what its motives and aims are.
Alongside this, they use Sigh and Sound magazine to promote the festival. This suggests that they are targeting more of a
film literate audience as not everyone is aware of the magazine or what it is about. However, the use popular social media
sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube which extends this audience on a wider platform.
How are they supported?
Supported by:
Department for Culture Media & Sport
The National Lottery
Main Sponsors:
Accenture
Virgin Atlantic
Main Funding Contributors:
Mayor of London
Film London
Creative Skill set

18. The Film Network
The Film Network is no longer part of the BBC but still has created
a new site that helps filmmakers connect with each other by
opening its site to become a portfolio to filmmakers.

19. • Film Festivals with Short Film selections:
•BFI London Film Festival
•Leeds International Film Festival
•Edinburgh Film Festival
• Festivals dedicated to Short Films:
•Soho Shorts
•Encounters
•London Short Film Festival

20. The importance of getting screened at a festival
mainly centres around the filmmakers future career
and opportunities. If screened at one, you are more
likely to excel onto bigger and better filming projects
and/or collaborations with larger co-operations. Not
only this, but the film-maker themselves will be able to
define themselves more strongly within the industry as
from here they are able to develop their own artistic
style.
Why is it important to be screened at one?

21. • The main people to attend such festivals are
those linked to the film as well as the film
literature audiences. However, integrated among
them are larger companies that are interested in
creating collaborations between filmmakers for
future projects, making the most of the new and
emerging film talent. Alongside this, media
coverage such as TV stations and journalists will
also attend in order to capture the event for those
would couldn't attend
Who attends them?

22. International Short Film
Festival
Young About Film Festival
Olympia International Film Festival
International Young Filmmakers Festival
Young Cuts Film Festival
Fresh Film Festival
Wimbledon Internationals Short Film Festival
Cambridge International Film Festival
Indie Lisboa International Film Festival

23. • Student Short Film Festivals
• Watersprite - The Cambridge International
Student Film Festival
• Leeds Young People’s Film Festival

24. This festival is a dedicated organisation that brings together film lovers from across the world together for one
week.
The submissions are aided by the programmes FilmFreeway and Withoutabox and further required information
is listed on their website
It has split its awards into the following categories:
- Gold Medal
- Silver Medal
- Bronze Medal
- Best Actor
- Best Screenplay Writer
We can judge from these categories that the festival is competitive as all enteries will be wanting to win the
prizes available.
The style of the site is portrayed a quite professional as it uses red as it main colour which, as explored
previously, connotes a sense of maturity. Its choice in fonts suggest that they are aiming to achieve a bold
feeling with the artistic choices they have made; as if they want everyone to know what they are and what
they do. The structure of their site flows quite well as you only need to scroll down to find all the needed
information however at times it can become very cluttered. This doesn't take away from the ability to discover
what you need to as the remainder of information are subcategorised easily for the user to navigate.
Manhattan Short

25. Future Shorts
Future Shorts is the largest short film network in the world and feature the most exciting
international short films. It helps film-makers and creators in a programme that
connects with a number of partners.
To submit a film, you follow the process on their site. The festival is open to any form of
content and encourages any film-maker to get in touch with their programme.
The festival is presented as competitive, more so than others, as their is only one
overall prize that is decided by the public. The film-makers are awarded a sum of
£250.
They use popular social media platforms to promote their festival such as` Instagram,
Twitter, Facebook and Youtube, Further on from this, they widely encourage users to
buy a license in order for them to create their own event any where they want and
screen the chose films. Here they market themselves on the widest scale I have ever
seen as they are connecting with everyone and anyone. By using this programme and
by having the main information on the internet, anyone can get involved and directly in
contact with the festival itself.

26. The ShortList Film Festival
This festival aims to bring the most talented shorts to the users
computers or mobile devices. The finalists will be able to premier there
films to a web audience who will then vote their favourite. The winners
are decided by the votes; whoever receives the most votes wins and all
three main prizes, Audience Prize, Industry Prize and The Creator
League Prize, offer the same cash amount of $5000 as well as being
presented at their live event in Los Angeles. They have claimed to be
the most competitive film festival as they select the twelve of the best-
award winning short films that have been premiered at larger festivals
in the past year.