REEL 01PG · FEST
Festival shortlist
Without
A giant list of festivals and no real order.
With FestForge
A shorter ranked list with targets, reaches and festivals to skip.
Built for indie filmmakers
Add your film profile, budget and goals. FestForge gives you a festival submission plan: where to apply, what to avoid, when to move and what to check before paying the fee. Read the film festival guide for practical advice on attendance, red flags and what to do after selection.
What changes with FestForge
A giant list of festivals and no real order.
A shorter ranked list with targets, reaches and festivals to skip.
Fees spent on guesses, late deadlines and weak fits.
A budget split that shows where to spend, wait or avoid.
Premiere rules, eligibility notes and old data are easy to miss.
Plain warnings before a fee or premiere status is at stake.
What you get back
Submit, hold, check, skip, or add budget as the festival run changes.
Why it is not just a list
FestForge narrows the field to festivals that fit the film, budget and submission window, then shows the trade-offs before you spend.
Festival fees climb fast when rules, deadlines, premiere status and fit are fuzzy. FestForge helps cut weak submissions before the budget is gone.
Add your film details, goals and festival budget. FestForge checks them against festival fit, cost, timing, accreditations and the quality of the available evidence.
Your report sets out the order, suggested spend, warnings and sources behind the call.
FestForge handles shorts, features, documentaries, animation and genre films. A horror short should not get the same plan as a documentary feature.
Tracked festival screeners
FestForge screeners give filmmakers a private watch page built for festival submissions. Share a password-protected link, collect the festival identity, and replace the video file later without changing the URL.
A paid submission should not disappear into anonymous view counts. The screener log gives you evidence that a festival opened the film and how much of it they watched, even if you upload a newer cut before the deadline.
Send one custom FestForge screener link, with an optional password gate before playback.
Ask the viewer to identify the festival watching before the session starts.
See whether the film was watched through, skimmed, or abandoned part-way.
Upload a newer version later without sending festivals a different URL.
Recognised festival pathways
FestForge looks for festival status that can change the decision: awards qualification, international accreditation, regional eligibility and specialist pathways for genre, documentary and animation work.
Very high
Very high for UK shorts
High for horror, fantasy and sci-fi
Very high prestige marker
what filmmakers are weighing up
The problem is not finding festivals. It is knowing which ones are worth the fee for this film, right now.
I need a plan before the budget goes on fees. Otherwise the whole thing starts to feel random.
More festival names are not the hard part. The hard part is knowing which deadlines, fees and premiere rules matter.
A prestige-only list is not much use. I need the right mix of long shots, genre matches and festivals worth the fee.
NOW SHOWING
Add the film, set the budget, and get a submission order with the checks that matter before you pay another fee.