Check out also the newly updated Top 100 International Film Festivals
Adrian Țofei, January 2015
Latest Update: October 2019
(follow me on Facebook or Twitter for new updates)
While working on a private list of the most important genre film festivals to submit my first movie Be My Cat: A Film for Anne, I decided to make it public to be useful to fellow filmmakers as well. It got thousands of shares and ended up helping thousands of filmmakers around the world, so I decided to continue the work by constantly researching festivals and updating the list (usually twice a year), taking into consideration over 20 other lists (see below), the opportunities the festivals offer to indie films/filmmakers/actors (distribution offers, publicity, networking, awards, attracting reviews in relevant publications and selections/invitations to new festivals, discovering new talents, boosting the chances for getting new projects), the number of years running, their status in the film industry, the location, communication, hospitality, atmosphere and safety, how they make the selected/attending filmmakers feel, the size (the number of films selected and the number of audience, press and film industry members attending), the quality of the selected films, the quality of the information on their websites and social media, the number of Facebook likes and Twitter followers, the entry fee, submission process and selection process, plus my own experiences with my movie Be My Cat: A Film for Anne and other various recommendations.
Colored in green are the newly-added festivals, the re-added festivals and those that climbed in the top at the latest update. I only included international genre film festivals with live screenings: horror, fantasy, sci-fi, found footage and underground focused on genre films. For all the festivals, regardless of type, check out my Top 100 International Film Festivals (some have popular sections for genre films). The number of years listed for each festival are counted till the year before the latest update of this top. Only the years when the festival was held are considered, therefore they reflect the number of editions. If you spot any errors, please let me know.
Submission Tips for Indie Filmmakers:
- Keep your genre feature film below 90 minutes if possible and never above 100 minutes. Most genre festivals are commercially oriented and don’t wanna risk boring their audiences and fade away in popularity.
- Keep your genre short film below 10 minutes if possible and never above 15 minutes. Most festivals prefer to screen a bigger number of shorter short films instead of a single longer short film.
- Some festival programmers won’t watch your feature film entirely and might reject it based on the first 10-20 minutes. Try to have a powerful beginning or one that shows potential for a powerful development and entices the viewer to watch more.
- Keep the cover letter very short – about three phrases of essential info if possible. Programmers are very busy and might not read long letters. Same for the film’s synopsis – try to synthesise it in one catchy phrase if possible.
- Include in the short cover letter the best things about your movie and yourself, to catch the programmers’ interest, like known cast & crew, past known films of yours, awards and top festivals, anything else unique or sensational about your film.
- Ask for fee waivers before submitting. Unfortunately, some festivals view paid submissions mainly as a source of revenue and select/invite most of their films from other sources like contacts, recommendations, other festivals, sales agents etc. Write to festivals, mention the top attributes of your film and yourself, send them the trailer/teaser and ask if they could offer you a fee waiver. If they refuse, they might be either not interested in your film, or interested but principled. Try to find out which case applies and act accordingly, also considering your submission budget and how much you want that festival.
- Don’t fall for partial discount offers received via email, thinking they are personalised and the festival is interested in your film. Most of the times they are not, those are discount codes listed publicly on the submission platform or mass-sent to filmmakers. When a festival is interested in your film, they offer you a 100% discount code or fee waiver. With a few exceptions, the partial discount is just a marketing strategy.
- Don’t waste your money on submitting to award events listed on submission platforms. They won’t help you get (more) recognition in the film industry.
- But do your online research and submit to major competitions like the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the European Film Awards and other regional or national major film awards not listed here. For a chance at the Oscars, don’t miss the Academy Awards Qualifying Festivals for documentary features, documentary shorts, and short films (including animated shorts), and the 5 festivals known to be top Oscar boosters for feature films (Toronto, Venice, Telluride, Sundance, Cannes).
- For feature films, it’s very important to have the world premiere in a big festival. All the selections after the world premiere will be in smaller or similar festivals, never in bigger festivals. Plan carefully your world premiere, don’t settle for a little-known festival if you think your movie can do more than that.
- The best festivals to premiere your genre feature film are actually not the ones in this list, but the top 10 general festivals in my Top 100 International Film Festivals list. A lot of them have very powerful and popular sections for genre films.
- When you get accepted and/or win an award in an important festival, email the other festivals you are waiting a decision from and inform them about your success (but try not to bother them with too many emails).
- And finally, if you get into festivals and distributors express interest in your film, always negotiate an advance payment (minimum guarantee – MG) or at least a gross corridor. Otherwise chances are you will see little to no money later. Go without an advance or gross corridor only if the backend split is great and you trust the distributor, or if no other distributor wants your film and that’s your only chance.
Before starting the top 100, here are the lists that helped me make mine, with codes to identify in which lists each festival is mentioned. A festival must be listed in at least 2 other lists in order to be included in my top 10, and in at least 1 other for my top 25.
- Moviemaker’s The World’s 5/10/15 Bloody Best Genre Fests (2017) [MMGe5/10/15]
- Moviemaker’s 30 Bloody Best Genre Fests in the World (2018) [MMGe30]
- Moviemaker’s Major Horror & Fantasy Film Festivals & Conventions (2016) [co/MMHoFa]
- Moviemaker’s 5 Coolest Horror/Sci-Fi Film Fests + nominations (2013) [no/MMHoSF5]
- Moviemaker’s 5 Coolest Underground Film Fests + nominations (2013) [no/MMUn5]
- Moviemaker’s 13 Horror Film Festivals to Die For (2011) [MMHo13]
- Moviemaker’s 50 Film Fests Worth the Entry Fee (2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014) [MM50]
- Moviemaker’s 25 Coolest Film Festivals (2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 lists) [MM25]
- EFFFF’s Affiliated Festivals (2019) [AfEFFFF]
- EFFFF’s Adherent Festivals (2019) [AdEFFFF]
- EFFFF’s Supporting Festivals (2019) [SuEFFFF]
- EFFFF’s former member festivals [exEFFFF]
- Horror Report‘s 3/10/20 Fests with the Most Horror Movies Screened (1996-2016) [HR3/10/20]
- Raindance’s 7/20/40 Essential Horror & Fantasy Film Festivals (2013) [RHoFa7/20/40]
- Raindance’s Essential 100 Film Festivals (2013) [R100]
- Google’s first 50 results for Best/Top/Greatest Film Festivals (Oct 2019)[G50]
- Google’s first 3/10/50 Top/Greatest Genre Film Festivals (Oct 2019) [GGe3/10/50]
- Google’s first 3/10 Top/Best/Greatest Underground Film Festivals (Oct 2019) [GUn3/10]
- Film Daily’s Indie horror film fests worth screaming about (2018) [FD]
- Bitch Flicks’ Women-Led and Women-Centric Horror Film Festivals (2017) [BFWo]
- FIAPF’s Competitive Specialised Feature Film Festivals (2018) [FIAPF]
- 92nd Academy Awards’ Short Film Qualifying Festivals (2019) [AASh]
- Indiewire’s 100 Leading Film Festivals (2015) [IW100]
- 91st Academy Awards’ Short Film Qualifying Festivals (2018) [AASh]
- FilmFreeway’s Top 10/25/50/100/250 Best Reviewed Festivals (Oct 2019) [FF10/25/50/100/250] (this includes all the film festivals on FilmFreeway, and it’s different from their Top 100 Best Reviewed Festivals, which includes only festivals with open submissions at the moment of accessing the list)
Both “Top 100 International Film Festivals” and “Top 100 Horror & Fantasy Film Festivals” require constant updates and a continuous extensive research. It’s a huge amount of work, I’m doing it all alone and nobody pays me, therefore I need your support to continue:
Top 10 Genre Film Festivals:
- Sitges Film Festival / Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantastic de Catalunya – Sitges, Catalonia, Spain, 51 years – RHoFa7, AfEFFFF, R100, FIAPF, MMGe5, MMHoFa, MM25, HR3, MMGe30, AASh, G50, GGe3, AASh
- Fantasia International Film Festival – Montreal, Canada, 22 years – RHoFa20, SuEFFFF, R100, IW100, MMGe5, MMHoFa, MM50-2019-2018-2017, MM25, noMMHoSF5, HR3, MMGe30, GGe10
- Fantastic Fest – Austin, Texas, US, 14 years – RHoFa20, SuEFFFF, R100, IW100, MMGe5, MMHoFa, MMHoSF5, MM25-2017, HR20, MMGe30, GGe3
- FrightFest – London, UK, 19 years – RHoFa7, exEFFFF, MMGe5, MMHoFa, HR10, MMGe30, FD, GGe10
- Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival: BIFFF – Brussels, Belgium, 36 years – RHoFa7, AfEFFFF, MMHoFa, HR10, MMGe30, GGe3
- Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival: BiFan (formerly Puchon/PiFan) (focused on Asian horror & fantasy films) – Bucheon, South Korea, 22 years – RHoFa7, SuEFFFF, R100, MMGe5, MMHoFa, GGe10
- Screamfest Horror Film Festival – Los Angeles, California, US, 18 years – RHoFa7, SuEFFFF, MMHo13, HR20, MMGe30, FD, G50, GGe3
- The Overlook Film Festival (formerly Stanley Film Festival) – New Orleans, Louisiana, US, 5 years – IW100, MMGe10, MMGe30, noMMHoSF5, GGe50
- Beyond Fest (accepts submissions for short films only, features are invitation based) – Los Angeles, California, US, 6 years – MMGe10, MMGe30
- Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival – Neuchatel, Switzerland, 18 years – RHoFa20, AfEFFFF, MMGe15, MMHoFa, HR20, GGe10
Top 25 Genre Film Festivals:
(in alphabetical order from 11th to 25th)
- Cinepocalypse (formerly Bruce Campbell’s Horror Film Fest) – Chicago, Illinois, US, 5 years – MMGe30
- L’Etrange Festival – Paris, France, 23 years – MMGe10, HR20
- Fantaspoa – Porto Alegre, Brazil, 14 years – RHoFa20, SuEFFFF, MMHoFa, MMGe30
- Fantasporto: Oporto International Film Festival – Porto, Portugal, 38 years – RHoFa7, exEFFFF, HR20
- Fantasy FilmFest – Berlin / Nuremberg / Munich / Frankfurt / Cologne / Stuttgart / Hamburg, Germany, 32 years – HR3, MMGe30, GGe3
- FilmQuest – Provo, Utah, US, 5 years – MM50-2017, FF25, MMGe30
- Horrible Imaginings Film Festival – San Diego, California, US, 8 years – RHoFa40, MM50-2018, FF100, MMGe30, GGe50
- Imagine Film Festival – Amsterdam, Netherlands, 34 years – RHoFa20, AfEFFFF, HR10, GGe10
- Lund International Fantastic Film Festival – Malmo/Lund, Sweden, 24 years – RHoFa20, AfEFFFF, HR10, GGe50
- Morbido Film Fest – Mexico City, Mexico, 11 years – SuEFFFF, MMGe10, HR20, MMGe30, GGe50
- MOTELx: Lisbon International Horror Film Festival – Lisbon, Portugal, 12 years – AfEFFFF, RHoFa40, MMGe15, HR20, FIAPF, GGe50
- New York City Horror Film Festival – New York City, US, 16 years – RHoFa40, MMGe15, GGe10
- Nightmares Film Festival – Columbus, Ohio, US, 3 years – FF10, MMGe30, GGe50
- Telluride Horror Show – Telluride, Colorado, US, 9 years – RHoFa20, MMHo13, noMMHoSF5, GGe50
- Toronto After Dark Film Festival – Toronto, Canada, 13 years – RHoFa7, MMHo13, HR20, MMGe30, GGe10
Top 50 Genre Film Festivals:
(in alphabetical order from 26th to 50th)
- A Night of Horror International Film Festival (recently reopened after a two years hiatus) – Sydney, Australia, 11 years – RHoFa20, GGe50
- Ax Wound Film Festival (for women’s genre films) – Brattleboro, Vermont, US, 4 years – MMGe30, FD, BFWo
- Boston Underground Film Festival – Boston, Massachusetts, US, 19 years – MMUn5, MMGe30, GUn3
- Brooklyn Horror Film Festival – New York City, US, 3 years – MMGe30, GGe50
- Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre – Buenos Aires, Argentina, 18 years – RHoFa20, GGe50
- Dead by Dawn: Scotland’s International Horror Film Festival – Edinburgh, UK, 26 years – exEFFFF, RHoFa40, HR20, GGe50
- FANT: Bilbao Fantasy Film Festival – Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain, 24 years – RHoFa40, GGe50
- Freak Show Horror Film Festival – Orlando, Florida, US, 13 years – MMHo13, RHoFa40, noMMHoSF5, GGe50
- GenreBlast Film Festival – Winchester, Virginia, US, 3 years – FF25
- Gerardmer International Fantastic Film Festival – Gerardmer, France, 25 years – HR10, GGe50
- Grossmann Fantastic Film & Wine Festival – Ljutomer, Slovenia, 14 years – AdEFFFF, MMHoSF5, MMGe30, GGe50
- Hexploitation Film Festival (formerly Fright Night Theatre Film Festival) – Hamilton, Canada, 9 years – MMGe30, FD, FF250
- Macabro International Horror Film Festival – Mexico City, Mexico, 17 years – MMGe15, MMGe30, FD, GGe50
- Molins Horror Film Festival – Molins de Rei, Catalonia, Spain, 37 years – AdEFFFF
- Monster Fest – Melbourne, Australia, 8 years
- Night Visions – Helsinki, Finland, 21 years – HR10, MMGe30
- Nocturna: Madrid International Fantastic Film Festival – Madrid, Spain, 6 years
- NOLA Horror Film Fest – New Orleans, Louisiana, US, 7 years – MMHo13, FF50
- Other Worlds Austin Film Festival (for sci-fi and horror films) – Austin, Texas, 5 years
- Panic Fest – North Kansas City, Missouri, US, 6 years – MMGe30, GGe50
- San Sebastian Horror & Fantasy Film Festival / Semana Terror Donostia – San Sebastian, Basque Country, Spain, 29 years – RHoFa20, AdEFFFF, GGe50
- Shriekfest: The Indie Horror/Sci-Fi Film Festival – Los Angeles, California / Orlando, Florida, US, 18 years – MMHo13, MMHoSF5, RHoFa40, FF100, GGe10
- Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival – Strasbourg, France, 11 years – AfEFFFF
- Sydney Underground Film Festival – Sydney, Australia, 12 years – MMUn5, GUn3
- Trieste Science+Fiction (for sci-fi films) – Trieste, Italy, 39 years – AfEFFFF
- Women in Horror Film Festival – Atlanta, Georgia, US, 2 years – FF100, BFWo, GGe50
Top 100 Genre Film Festivals:
(in alphabetical order from 51st to 100th)
- 15 Second Horror Film Challenge (for micro-shorts of max 15 sec) – online and various conventions around the world, 4 years – FF250
- Abertoir: The International Horror Festival of Wales – Aberystwyth, UK, 13 years – AdEFFFF, RHoFa40, GGe50
- Another Hole in the Head International Genre Film Festival – San Francisco, California, US, 15 years – GGe50
- Atlanta Horror Film Festival – Atlanta, Georgia, US, 11 years – RHoFa40, GGe50, FF250
- Berlin Sci-fi Filmfest – Berlin, Germany, 2 years – FF100
- Boston Sci-Film Festival – Boston, Massachusetts, US, 43 years – noMMHoSF5
- Buried Alive Film Fest – Atlanta, Georgia, US, 11 years – RHoFa40, GGe50
- Calgary Underground Film Festival – Calgary, Canada, 14 years – noMMUn5, GUn3
- Court Metrange Festival (for short films) – Rennes, France, 15 years – AdEFFFF
- Crimson Screen Horror Film Fest – Charleston, South Carolina, US, 5 years – FF50
- Cryptshow Festival (focused on short films) – Badalona, Catalonia, Spain, 12 years – FD
- Etheria Film Night (for women’s genre short films) – Los Angeles, California, US, 5 years – BFWo, GGe50
- Fancine Malaga Fantastic Film Festival – Malaga, Andalusia, Spain, 27 years – AdEFFFF
- Fantafestival – Rome, Italy, 38 years – exEFFFF, GGe50
- Fantastic Zagreb Film Festival – Zagreb, Croatia, 7 years
- Final Girls Berlin Film Festival (for women’s genre films) – Berlin, Germany, 2 years – BFWo
- GrimmFest – Manchester, UK, 9 years – RHoFa40, MMGe30
- H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival (for Lovecraft-like films) – Portland, Oregon, US, 22 years – noMMHoSF5
- Hallucinations Collectives – Lyon, France, 11 years
- HARD:LINE Kino Extrem International Film Festival – Regensburg, Germany, 6 years – AdEFFFF
- HorrorHound Weekend Film Festival – Cincinnati, Ohio, US, 8 years – FF50
- Horrorthon (accepts submissions for short films only, features are invitation based) – Dublin, Ireland, 21 years – exEFFFF
- The International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival – Phoenix, Arizona, US, 13 years – noMMHoSF5, GGe50
- Ithaca Fantastik – Ithaca, New York State, US, 6 years
- Knoxville Horror Film Fest – Knoxville, Tennessee, US, 9 years – noMMHoSF5
- LUSCA Caribbean International Fantastic Film Fest (formerly Puerto Rico Horror Film Fest) – San Juan, Puerto Rico, US, 11 years – MMHo13, GGe50
- Maskoon Fantastic Film Festival (accepts submissions for short films only) – Beirut, Lebanon, 3 years – SuEFFFF
- Melbourne Underground Film Festival – Melbourne, Australia, 18 years – R100, noMMUn5, GUn10
- MidWest WeirdFest (from the founding director of A Night of Horror Film Festival) – Eau Claire, Wisconsin, US, 2 years
- Monsters of Film – Stockholm, Sweden, 6 years
- Nevermore Film Festival – Durham, North Carolina, US, 19 years
- On Vous Ment! Mockumentary Film Festival (for pseudo-documentaries and found footage films) – Lyon, France, 3 years
- The Optical Theatre Horror Film Festival – Rome, Italy, 4 years
- Out for Blood: Cambridge Queer Horror Festival (for LGBT short horror films) – Cambridge, England, UK, 1 year
- Paris International Fantastic Film Festival – Paris, France, 8 years
- Popcorn Frights Film Festival – Miami, Florida, US, 4 years
- RamaSkrik – Oppdal, Norway, 8 years – MMGe30
- Ravenna Nightmare Film Festival – Ravenna, Italy, 15 years – RHoFa20, exEFFFF, GGe50
- Razor Reel Flanders Film Festival – Bruges, Belgium, 11 years – AdEFFFF
- Sacramento Horror Film Festival (focused on short films) – Sacramento, California, US, 12 years – MMHoSF5, RHoFa40, GGe50
- Sci-Fi-London Film Festival – London, UK, 17 years – noMMHoSF5
- /slash Fantastic Film Festival – Vienna, Austria, 9 years
- South African HorrorFest – Cape Town, South Africa, 14 years – GGe50
- Splat!FilmFest – Lublin & Warsaw, Poland, 3 years – AdEFFFF
- Spooky Movie International Horror Film Festival – Washington, D.C., US, 12 years
- TromaDance Film Festival – New York City, US, 18 years
- Unnamed Footage Festival (for found footage horror films) – San Francisco, California, US, 1 year
- Utopiales Nantes (for sci-fi films) – Nantes, France, 19 years – exEFFFF
- Vortex Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Horror Film Festival (formerly Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival) – Providence, Rhode Island, US, 19 years – MMHo13
- Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival – Yubari, Japan, 26 years – RHoFa40, MMGe30
Beyond Top 100:
(festivals that barely missed the top, in alphabetical order)
(incomplete list, more festivals to be added soon)
- L’Absurde Seance Festival – Nantes, France, 10 years
- Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival – Buffalo, New York, US, 6 years – FF250
- BUT Film Festival – Breda, Netherlands, 13 years
- Celluloid Screams: Sheffield Horror Film Festival – Sheffield, UK, 9 years
- Cinefantasy International Fantastic Film Festival – Sao Paulo, Brazil, 8 years
- Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival – San Diego, California, US, 13 years – R100, coMMHoFa
- Crypticon Seattle Horror Film Festival – Seattle, Washington, US, 7 years – coMMHoFa
- Crystal Palace International Film Festival – London, UK, 9 years – FF250
- DEDfest International Genre Film Festival – Edmonton, Canada, 11 years
- Dracula Film Festival – Brasov, Romania, 6 years
- Dragon Con Independent Film Festival (focused on short films) – Atlanta, Georgia, US, 30 years – RHoFa40, coMMHoFa, GGe50
- FANtastic Horror Film Festival – San Diego, California, US, 4 years
- Fargo Fantastic Film Festival – Fargo, North Dakota, US, 16 years
- Fear Fete – Biloxi, Mississippi, US, 7 years – MMHo13
- Feratum Film Fest – Tlalpujahua, Mexico – 7 years
- Fright Nights: The Ultimate Festival of Angst – Vienna, Austria, 13 years
- Haapsalu Horror & Fantasy Film Festival – Haapsalu, Estonia, 11 years – AdEFFFF
- Hollywood Horrorfest – Los Angeles, California, US, 4 years – FD, FF250
- Horrorant Fright Nights Film Festival – Athens, Greece, 5 years
- Horror-on-Sea Film Festival – Southend-on-Sea, UK, 6 years
- HorrorQuest – Atlanta, Georgia, US, 8 years
- The Icon Festival for Science Fiction & Fantasy – Tel Aviv, Israel, 20 years
- Idaho Horror Film Festival – Boise, Idaho, US, 5 years
- The International Horror Hotel – Cleveland, Ohio, US, 7 years – FF250
- Lost Episode Festival Toronto – Toronto, Canada, 5 years
- Miami International Science Fiction Film Festival – Miami, Florida, US, 5 years
- Montevideo Fantastico – Montevideo, Uruguay, 13 years
- Portland Horror Film Festival – Portland, Oregon, US, 3 years – FD
- Requiem Fear Fest (formerly Montreal HorrorFest) – Montreal, Canada, 6 years
- Saskatoon Fantastic Film Festival – Saskatoon, Canada, 8 years
- Sick Chick Flicks Film Festival (for women’s short genre films) – Cary, North Carolina, US, 3 years – BFWo
- Taipei Golden Horse Fantastic Film Festival – Taipei, Taiwan, 9 years
- Torremolinos International Fantastic Film Festival – Torremolinos, Spain, 7 years
- Tucson Terrorfest – Tucson, Arizona, US, 7 years – noMMHoSF5
- Upstate NY Horror Film Festival – Rochester, New York, US, 5 years – FF250
- Zinema Zombie Fest – Bogota, Colombia, 9 years
Both “Top 100 International Film Festivals” and “Top 100 Horror & Fantasy Film Festivals” require constant updates and a continuous extensive research. It’s a huge amount of work, I’m doing it all alone and nobody pays me, therefore I need your support to continue: