10 Film Festival Premiere Questions

For many years, top-tier fests, especially the big 3 in Europe (Cannes, Venice, and Berlin), have been competing for World Premieres. This practice eventually made its way to the US, and top festivals (Sundance and Telluride) will demand World or International Premiere status. Even some of the smaller fests battle for premieres, hoping for bragging rights in their press releases. You see many of them request Premiere status on the submission form and in follow-up emails.

Sadly, this issue rarely puts the interest of the filmmakers front and center. I’ve seen many a festival invite lesser quality films, to boost their number of World Premieres. So what should we do? What does this all mean?

The questions surrounding film festival premiere status keep pouring in. As filmmakers, you work hard to get to the finish line, and regardless of your timing, please know that there are festivals that will work for your film. You just have to have a clear picture of your options, a plan A, and a plan B.

Yes, some seasons have more festivals than others, and certain events do require World Premieres. It’s important to do your homework, understand which festivals can help you achieve your goals, and know the rules and regulations before you begin submissions AND before you accept your invitations.

The conditions can change from year to year, so it’s worth confirming before you click submit. Here are 10 questions that often come up, along with some answers.

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1. What does it mean to commit your World Premiere to a film festival?
   This commitment would require you to play your first public screening with that festival. (You can still do a private screening, and more on that below). Most top-tier fests will require the World Premiere (or at least International) to be in competition (Cannes, Berlin, Venice).
   
   Telluride is a bit more flexible:

   “The only prerequisite is that feature films have not been shown around the North American block before – we’re not so strict about shorts.”

   And Feature rules for Sundance:

   “Open submissions to our U.S. Feature Film categories must be world premieres, while open submissions to our International Feature Films categories must be international premieres.”

2. What About International, National, and European Premieres?
   The International Premiere would be the first time the film has had a “public” screening outside its country of origin. For Example, an American film could play Sundance or Seattle and then play in Toronto, or Cannes. If so, the first event in the US would be the World Premiere and the Toronto screening would be the International Premiere.
   
   A film could also have a World Premiere in Toronto, then an International Premiere in Berlin, and then a US Premiere at a later fest in the states.

   
   And yes, the film can have a World Premiere, an International Premiere, followed by a European Premiere, and then a US Premiere.
   

3. What about State and Regional Premieres?
   State is pretty obvious, as the first public screening in the state, but Regional is usually defined by the surrounding communities. So a film that plays in Los Angeles could later play up North in San Francisco, which would then bill the screening as a Regional Premiere. Most reputable film festivals will not play a feature if it’s played already in the same region, so be mindful of that as you submit to multiple festivals in the same state or region. It’s fine to have a plan B, but you have to know which fests can be more advantageous in reaching your goals.
   

4. Is there a difference between World Premieres for Shorts vs Features?