The competitions listed here welcome entries by amateurs and are run by genuine enthusiasts.They all accept entries in English - though if you can provide subtitles in the language of the country concerned these are always helpful. See the Notes below.

Sorted alphabetically ...
Abstracta AMPS ARSfilm BIAFF The Big Gig Cambridgr Super-8 Canadian International Co-op Young Film Makers Cotswold Croatian Minute Movie DepicT ! Eulenspiegeleien		Eurofilm Festival of Nations FIFA - wildlife FIKE Golden Diana Golden Knight Guernsey Lily Hazel Wolf International Ornithological Korea Green KRAF Croatia Langenfeld Leeds Young Peoples		Melbourne More (=Sea) Croatia Newcastle (Australia) Northern Shinano Obuse Norwegian Offensiva OSFAF Oslo Oskariada Outdoor Films Phase 4 Fiction Planet in Focus Pol-8 Railway & Transport Films		Senior Forum Seoul Tallinn The One Minutes To Love a Man Toti UNCIPAR UNICA Wildlife Asia Wildscreen Up to 21

Sorted by maximum length accepted ...

1 minute Croatian Minute Movie The One Minutes Northern Shinano Obuse BIAFF (* minute section) 1½ minutes DepicT ! 5 minutes Abstracta AMPS (comedy category) 6 minutes Co-op Young Film Makers

15 minutes KRAF Croatia More (=Sea) Croatia Newcastle (Australia) Senior Forum 16min amateur category Cotswold 20 minutes ARSfilm Eulenspiegeleien FIFA - wildlife Golden Diana Langenfeld Pol-8 To Love a Man Toti

25 minutes Norwegian Oslo 30 minutes AMPS Canadian International Festival of Nations Golden Knight Guernsey Lily Melbourne OSFAF Phase 4 Fiction Seoul UNCIPAR 40 minutes FIKE

120 minutes Oskariada 125 minutes The Big Gig any length BIAFF Offensiva Outdoor Films Railway & Transport Films Tallinn Up to 21

Sorted by closing dates ... January BIAFF Eulenspiegeleien Leeds Young Peoples UNCIPAR February March Festival of Nations Oskariada April Croatian Minute Movie Seoul May Cotswold Guernsey Lily Up to 21 June Abstracta The Big Gig Canadian FIKE July Young Film Makers Outdoor Films August Golden Diana Pol-8 Railway/Transport Tallinn September AMPS ARSfilm DepicT ! Golden Knight Melbourne Newcastle (Aus) Offensiva OSFAF Phase 4 Fiction The One Minutes Toti October FIFA - wildlife KRAF Croatia Langenfeld More (=Sea) Croatia Northern Shinano Norwegian Oslo November Senior Forum December To Love a Man

Sorted by play dates ... January To Love a Man February Canadian Eulenspiegeleien March FIFA - wildlife Leeds Young Peoples UNCIPAR April BIAFF Oskariada May Croatian Minute Up to 21 June Festival of Nations Seoul July The Big Gig August Golden Diana September Abstracta Cotswold FIKE Pol-8 Railway/Transport Tallinn UNICA October ARSfilm Film Makers Guernsey Lily Melbourne Newcastle (Aus) OSFAF Outdoor Films Phase 4 Fiction November DepicT ! Golden Knight KRAF Croatia More (=Sea) Croatia Northern Shinano Norwegian Oslo Senior Forum The One Minutes Toti December Langenfeld Offensiva

Special topics / types / ages ...

In addition to the specialist ones listed below, several festivals have special categories for young film makers.

Abstracta - abstract subjects
ARSfilm - films about art
Cambridge Super-8 - at least 50% shot on Super-8
Co-op Young Film Makers - film makers under 21
Eulenspiegeleien - comedy
FIFA - wildlife - wildlife subjects
Hazel Wolf Environmental - wildlife and environment
International Ornithological - wildlife (not just ornithology)
Korea Green - wildlife subjects
Leeds Young Peoples -
More (=Sea) Croatia - underwater
Outdoor Films - adrenalin sports
Phase 4 Fiction - fiction films
Planet In Focus - wildlife subjects
Railway & Transport Films - !
Senior Forum - film makers over 58
To Love a Man - humanitarian
Up to 21- film makers under 21
Wildlife Asia- wildlife subjects
Wildscreen- wildlife subjects

Notes

Always check the rules carefully. Many competitions are free to enter, others require a fee. Look out for restrictions on length, year of production and subject matter. Some offer special deals to entrants who attend, such as free accommodation. When a European festival refers to "feature films" that has nothing to do with length - it means "fiction films". Many festivals have an English section on their website - look out for a Union Jack/Stars & Stripes/Maple Leaf flag icon to click.

Note: this list does not include most local and regional festivals in the UK - see the Events Diary for details of those.

Most of these festivals run every year at about the same dates and with similar rules etc. It can take some months after the last festival before websites are updated and news of the following year's event is circulated.

From time to time on other pages of this website we also list competitions run by commercial organisations where they seem to welcome amateurs. These often offer major prizes. Others offer exposure on television. Many amateurs suspect such events are designed to exploit their work for free. Very few of them are. They are mostly advertising some associated activity of the companies behind them. Entering this sort of event may require more in the way of form-filling and record-keeping than most of us are used to. For a good example visit Propellor TV's website and download the pdf form. !--#include virtual="/inc_footer.html" -->