Free Film Festivals Worth Entering Your Short Film Into

Indie shorts are expensive enough to produce without adding festival submission fees on top. We want to help you get your film seen without breaking the bank, so here are our picks of festivals that are free to enter, or free for early or eligible entries, starting close to home. Deadlines, fees and rules change from year to year, so check each festival's own page before you submit. This list was refreshed in September 2026; several festivals from the original version have paused since, and they are gone from it.

Cinemagic Film Festival (Belfast)

Cinemagic is one of the biggest film festivals for young audiences in Europe, based in Belfast with strands in Dublin and Los Angeles. Entry is free, shorts must run under 20 minutes, and the festival has a Young Filmmaker section for emerging directors. The 2026 festival runs in the autumn, with entries closing in early July, so plan for it early in the year.

Cinemagic Film Festival on FilmFreeway

Irish Film Festa (Rome)

Run at the Casa del Cinema in Rome every March, Irish Film Festa is dedicated to Irish film, and its short film competition is free to enter. Fiction, documentary and animation are all welcome as long as the film runs under 30 minutes and has an Irish producer, director or writer. Submissions open in the autumn and close in mid-January.

Irish Film Festa on FilmFreeway

Docs Ireland (Belfast)

If your short is a documentary, Docs Ireland in Belfast runs a Short Irish Documentary category and waives the entry fee for directors aged 25 or under. Email the festival before you submit to ask for the waiver.

Docs Ireland on FilmFreeway

BFI Future Film Festival (London)

Run by the BFI at London's South Bank, the Future Film Festival was created to give young, up-and-coming filmmakers a chance to have their voices heard. If you are aged 16 to 25, this is one of the best festivals you could enter. The multi-day event hosts short film showcases as well as talks, labs and workshops aimed at young creatives who want a start in the industry. It welcomes submissions from all over the world and is known for a highly diverse programme that supports voices from every background. There is an awards ceremony with cash prizes, and selected filmmakers are offered advice and guidance after the festival ends, including the chance of a one-to-one meeting to point you in the right direction for your career.

BFI Future Film Festival on FilmFreeway

Cardiff International Film Festival

Based in the Welsh capital, the festival welcomes submissions in all genres and formats from filmmakers across the globe. Its patrons have included Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon, Underworld, The Queen), Matthew Rhys (The Post, The Americans) and Marc Zicree (Star Trek, Babylon 5). With a wide selection of shorts in a diverse programme every year, it is always worth entering. The festival closes with a gala dinner and awards night, free for nominated filmmakers to attend, and unlike many festivals it has plenty of award categories that shorts are eligible for. It has offered free early entry in the past; check the current fee tiers on its site.

Cardiff International Film Festival submissions

BIFA (British Independent Film Awards)

Based in London, the British Independent Film Awards were created by the Raindance Film Festival. With a whole range of awards up for grabs, a nomination is guaranteed to draw attention to your name as a filmmaker. Most awards are open only to independent British films, but some categories welcome international entries too. Unlike other festivals, BIFA requires that your film has already been selected for one or more festivals on its qualifying list during the eligibility period, which makes it without doubt the hardest entry on this list. If your film is eligible, though, entry has been free before the early deadline. What have you got to lose?

British Independent Film Awards

Reel Teal Film Festival (USA)

Reel Teal is a student-run festival in Wilmington, North Carolina, created to showcase innovative voices from around the world, with short film showcases and filmmaker Q&As each year. Awards include Audience Choice, Best Narrative, Best Animation, Best Experimental, Best Documentary and Best Music Video. Filmmakers of any age, student or professional, can submit as long as the film runs under 15 minutes. Submissions open in December and close in early January for the March festival.

Reel Teal Film Festival on FilmFreeway

How to get a festival fee waiver

There is always a way to submit your film to festivals, even when you are strapped for cash. If you have something in common with a festival, such as living in the same area, having been selected before or being a student, it is worth sending a polite email explaining how much the festival means to you and asking whether they can offer a fee waiver or discount. It works more often than you would think. Also check FilmFreeway's discounts page, which is updated regularly with discount codes for a range of festivals.

If you enjoyed this, you may also like our guides to filmmaking apps and micro-budget filmmaking. And when your next short needs a cast, Actorly is where casting directors, producers and directors in Ireland post their castings. Join Actorly as a caster and post your casting to actors across Ireland.