Terms & Conditions

Short film submissions

If you have any queries, please email shorts@filmfleadh.ie

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  1. The Galway Film Fleadh short film programme consists of two primary sections:
    Irish production/co-production
    International production
  2. An Irish production/co-production is defined as a production that features an Irish resident/born director, producer, lead animator or writer OR a production shot on the island of Ireland
  3. You may select one category only for each film submitted. For experimental works or works that fall in between the categories below, please select one and describe your film type in the notes section on the submission form e.g. docudrama, experimental, etc. The categories are:
    Fiction
    Animation
    Documentary
  4. Any short that has been previously broadcast (television, online or video-on-demand) shall be deemed ineligible for competition and receive less priority in programming terms.
  5. DVDs, Blu-rays, USB devices or online screeners are accepted at submission stage. Note that we do not accept YouTube links. Any submissions physically sent to the festival should be labelled “No Commercial Value”, along with the film title, director’s name, length, if screener is a rough cut and available screening format(s).Send physical submissions to:
    Short Film Submissions,
    Galway Film Fleadh,
    36D Merchants Dock,
    Merchants Road,
    Galway,
    Ireland,
  6. If you are submitting a digital file, you must keep your file below 2GB.
    If your film is accepted to screen at this festival, we will require a screening copy that must be one of the following 4 formats* (listed in order of preference:
    ProRes/high resolution H.264/5 file
    All versions of ProRes are accepted
    H.264/5 files must have a bandwidth of at least 20m/b second
    DCP
    If your film is to be screened from DCP, it is your responsibility to ensure it is DCI compliant and to ensure a KDM is issued if encrypted. You will be required to fill out a technical form detailing formatting specifications such as ratios and sound levels, to ensure that we can provide the best possible screening of your film.If you require assistance in obtaining an exhibition quality copy of your film, please contact tech@filmfleadh.ie
    35mm (1.85/2.35 ratios)
    Blu-ray (Region 0/B)
    WE DO NOT SCREEN FROM DVD.
  7. Accepted films must prepare their files/DCPs* to play on 2K or 4K digital cinema gear – the resolutions accepted are:
    2K
    Flat: 1998 x 1080 (1.85:1)
    Scope: 2048 x 858 (2.39:1)
    4K
    Flat: 3996 x 2160 (1.85:1)
    Scope: 4096 x 1716 (2.39:1)
    If your film is shot and only available in HD (16:9 or 1920 x 1080), your file/DCP will have to be cropped and/or resized to fit the outlined specification.
  8. Accepted films may submit exhibition formats in either mono, stereo or 5.1 audio tracks.*
  9. Accepted films will asked to provide their exhibition files/DCPs in either 24 or 25 frames per second, depending on which venue their film is screening in – the festival will provide you with this information as soon as possible into the acceptance process – and it is the responsibility of the filmmaker to ensure the framerate is set correct, the festival cannot be held responsible for frame rate related skipping errors
  10. In submitting to the festival, the applicant confirms that they possess all rights necessary for the screening of the submitted film at the festival
  11. Where the significant dialogue or narration of a film is not in English, please provide English subtitles.
  12. Entries should not exceed 40 minutes.
  13. If selected, you will be informed of the latest date at which prints must be delivered to the festival. The sender must meet the cost of shipping prints to the festival. The festival will pay for one-way return shipping of prints only. All prints will be returned during the week following the close of the festival.
  14. The submission fee TBC. Method of payment is:
    Stripe (credit/debit card)
  15. The festival is not obliged to view late entries. The final deadline for submission material(s) TBC.
  16. The festival has both competitive and non-competitive programmes. Competition eligibility is subject to these rules and regulations and at the discretion of the festival. All competition categories are judged by a jury of industry professionals.
  17. You must indicate if your film is a debut short, i.e. the director’s first short film. If your film is a debut dramatic/animated short it will automatically be eligible for a Best Debut Drama/Animation. This does not preclude it from winning the Tiernan McBride or James Horgan Oscar qualifying awards.
  18. The Academy will make no exception to the following rule:
  19. To be eligible for Oscar consideration upon winning a qualifying category: Your film must be available as an unencrypted 2K Interop DCP, should you wish to enter it.
    Trailers/previews of no longer than 10% of a short film’s length are permitted online.

Oscar Qualifying Awards

  • The Tiernan McBride Award for Best Short Drama
  • The James Horgan Award for Best Animated Short

Please see http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/rules/index.html for full Oscar rules and regulations.

Festival Awards

  • Best Debut Irish Short Fiction
  • Best Debut Irish Short Animation
  • Best Irish Documentary Short
  • The Donal Gilligan Award (Best Cinematography in a Short Film)
  • Best Animation Sequence in an Irish Short Film
  • Best International Short Documentary
  • Best International Short Fiction
  • Best International Short Animation
  • The Don Quijote Award for Best Animated Short Film (independent jury)

Principal funder