The selective world premiere strategy is one of the most complex in festival distribution, as it requires medium and long-term calendar planning. Festivals with premiere requirements often receive many submissions, and it’s increasingly difficult to secure a selection.
Until now, I had discussed festivals with strict premiere requirements, but there are other variables we can consider, such as the “value” placed on world and international premieres.
Normally, world premieres are not reserved for festivals that only allow national premieres. However, with the level of production we’ve seen in recent years, these subtle nuances and variables can help you stand out from other submissions.
The value placed on a world premiere versus an international premiere may or may not be described in the regulations.
There are cases like the Berlin Film Festival, where an analysis of its selection reveals the importance of world premieres. Just yesterday, the final selection for Berlinale Shorts, the official short film section, was published. In total, there were 24 short films, of which 18 were world premieres, compared to 6 international premieres. In the analysis I conducted last year, there were 17 world premieres versus 7 international premieres.
There are other festivals where the regulations clearly state the importance of reserving the world premiere. In this post, I have compiled 5 examples that reflect different ways of valuing world premieres and have open calls during January and February.
#1 World Premiere Valued Exclusively
There are some very important festivals within the short film distribution circuit that have a national premiere requirement and only value world premieres:
Krakow Film Festival
This is an Oscar-qualifying festival, and although it also accepts documentary features, it specializes primarily in short films. The minimum requirement is a Polish premiere, with a preference for a world premiere (neither international nor European).
The last submission deadline for short films is January 31, with a submission fee of €10, via their own online form.
It takes place from May 27 to June 3.
Curtas Vila do Conde
The call for entries opened a few weeks ago and closes on April 13. This year, submissions are made through Filmfreeway and Shortfilmdepot.
Vila do Conde has a minimum requirement of a Portuguese premiere and a preference only for world premieres. It is also part of the Oscar-qualifying list.
The first deadline, the early deadline, ends on January 12, with a reduced price of €10.
It takes place from July 14 to 22.
#2 World, International, and European Premiere Valued
Many festivals value world and international premieres; these two festivals are good examples:
Edinburgh International Film Festival
This is one of the most important festivals in the United Kingdom, for both feature films and short films. Although it has a national premiere requirement for international short films, it especially values world premieres, and failing that, international or European premieres.
The early deadline was December 14. The regular deadline is now open with a fee of £30 for short films, until January 18. Submissions are made through the Withoutabox platform.
It takes place from June 20 to July 1.
Vienna Shorts Festival
It is the most important short film festival in Austria and an Oscar-qualifying event. The competition accepts fiction, documentary, and animation, and has competitions for music videos and virtual reality, which has become widespread in many festivals in recent years.
In this case, it does not have a strict premiere requirement (not even national), but international premieres, and national premieres in Austria, are especially valued.
The submission fee is €15 for documentary and fiction, and €10 for animation. The submission deadline is January 31. Submissions can be made through Filmfreeway, Festhome, and FilmFestivallife platforms.
It takes place from May 29 to June 4.
#3 Exceptions in Regulations Only for World Premieres
There are other very special cases where exceptions are established in the regulations themselves, but only for world premieres, as is the case with Oberhausen.
International Short Film Festival Oberhausen
This is one of the most important short film festivals in the world, with no less than 64 editions. The premiere requirement is national in Germany for short films produced in 2017 with a maximum duration of 35 minutes.
The selection committee reserves the right to select short films of longer duration or from 2016, only in cases of world premieres.
The submission deadline is February 1, and submissions can only be made for free through their online form.
It takes place from May 3 to 8.
Important Dates
If you have a short film and are planning its world and international premiere, here are the festivals ordered by deadline. All these festivals have deadlines during this month of January and early February.
- Vila do Conde – January 12
- Edinburgh – January 18
- Krakow – January 31
- Vienna – January 31
- Oberhausen – February 1
Don’t forget to review their programming lines to see if your film fits well with each of these festivals.
Good luck at the start of this year; it’s a good time to begin planning the year and exploring different options.