A few weeks ago, I was discussing the proliferation of fake festivals with Chema Garcia Ibarra and Álex Montoya. Both have extensive experience distributing their own films and are well-acquainted with the film festival circuit.
They were concerned about the number of such “festivals” that have recently emerged.
I have been observing cases of fake festivals for a long time, but the advent of submission platforms and the ease of receiving films has led to an exponential increase in “festivals” that do not exist, and are created solely to collect submission fees.
With this post, I aim to provide some key insights to help you be cautious and plan your distribution strategy, avoiding submission to these festivals.
First, let’s differentiate two main groups:
- Purely fake festivals, which usually charge submission fees and do not exist; they are an outright fraud. These are the ones I will discuss in this post.
- There are other “festivals” that, while sharing many characteristics with the former, do seem to hold some event or screening to justify their existence, but nothing more. This group includes festivals like the Madrid International Film Festival, an event unknown to anyone in Madrid, organized by a foreign company (which organizes similar festivals in other cities). According to its website, it takes place in a Madrid hotel. Do they hold any events or screenings? Perhaps, I’m not entirely sure, but with that name, it certainly appears to be a type of festival it is not. Its main objective is to collect submission fees.
It is often difficult to differentiate between one type of festival and another. In any case, they try to confuse the director or producer into paying a submission fee, which is usually high.
Let’s now talk about the first group, those “festivals” that are completely fake, do not exist, and are a fraud. In this regard, there is a case I recently discovered that seems paradigmatic for understanding the characteristics of these supposed “festivals” or “awards.”
These are the European Independent Film Awards, which can serve as a basis for detecting similar cases:
- To begin with, the name itself causes confusion. These awards call themselves The EIFA, curiously very similar to the EFA Awards, which are the official awards of the European Film Academy (the European Oscars).
- They have very brief rules, both on their website and their Filmfreeway profile. It seems they accept films from anywhere in the world, with a jury composed of 15 professionals from different countries. But… weren’t these European awards? Who are these supposed professionals? There is no information about them on their website.
- Contact details are limited to a Twitter account with only 10 messages, a Gmail address, and a contact form. Additionally, there’s a map showing the location of Riva St. Kilda in Melbourne. European Awards in Australia?
- According to Filmfreeway, it’s their first year, a very common characteristic of this type of “festival.” They usually lack previous editions.
- These festivals are created to collect submission fees, so they tend to be expensive. In the case of these “awards,” they charge for all sections and have very broad submission deadlines, which are open all year round. Payment management is also done via Filmfreeway. There are fees for the Best Film, Best Short Film, Best Editing, Best Soundtrack categories, etc.
- This is an example of the fee structure in the Best Film category, which is repeated across 12 other categories, meaning there would be about 120 different payment possibilities (12 categories multiplied by 10 deadline options):
Some key points to identify fake festivals, which we can extract from this case:
- Names often include the city, country, or continent.
- There is no information about previous editions or known sponsors.
- The rules are very brief and accept many types of films.
- They do not feature public screenings.
- Offices and contact details are not located in the same city, country, or continent where they are supposedly held.
- Long submission periods and multiple payment options.
- Submission fees tend to be high.
Although it may seem easy to identify them, there are hundreds of festivals to review every week. There comes a point where you might be swayed by the name. You have to be very vigilant, especially when a submission fee is required. These festivals never make exceptions for payment, or “waivers.”
Sometimes, directors may also want to accumulate selections at all costs, without considering the type of festival they are submitting to. Having a list of a hundred festivals where your film has been, but half of which do not exist or are dubious, makes no sense.
Do you know of other cases of fake festivals? I await your comments.