For Filmmakers
Submissions
Submit Your Film to MNFF
The Submission Window for the 12th Annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival is now closed. Thank you to all the filmmakers who supported us by sending us their work on FilmFreeway! We truly appreciate your interest in our Festival.
Our Submission Window for MNFF13 will open on Friday, January 8, 2027. We look forward to considering a whole new pool of entries.
Dedicated solely to the work of first- and second-time directors filmmakers, the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival provides a unique and supportive platform for artists taking their first steps into the world of independent cinema. We consider both first or second features or first or second short films, and your work must have been completed within two years of the published Festival date.
All submitted films must comply with the guidelines outlined on FilmFreeway, including deadlines, exhibition format and entry material. All submissions must be digital and uploaded via FilmFreeway in order to be considered. Please do not send screeners asking us to watch them.
Questions?
If you have questions about the guidelines, or about your particular submission, you may email our Producer, Lloyd Komesar, at lk@middfilmfest.org.
Submission Guidelines
We encourage all filmmakers to consider our submission guidelines carefully prior to submitting. A comprehensive list of guidelines is also available on FilmFreeway.
- Our Festival accepts first or second features or first or second short films. If you have already completed three short films, for instance, but you want to submit your first or second feature, we welcome your submission. Conversely, if you have made two or more features and have recently completed a first or second short, send it our way.
- All submissions must contain new work, which we define as films completed no more than two years prior to the Festival dates.
- All submissions must be uploaded via FilmFreeway.
- We do not accept works-in-progress.
- We are glad to consider multiple submissions from the same filmmaker, but each entry must be accompanied by a separate entry fee. Any films submitted without a paid entry fee will be disqualified from the submission review process.
- Because of the heavy volume of submissions, we will not email you when we receive your submission.
- Films submitted must be in English or in the original language with English subtitles.
- Entry fees are payable via Film Freeway and are non-refundable.
- We are not responsible for any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits or royalty infringement. Please make sure you have obtained any necessary licenses, royalties, release forms, clearances and permits necessary to present your work in a public, festival setting.
- We do not require that MNFF be your festival premiere, but prioritize films expecting a Vermont or New England debut.
- We cannot program films that are already available via widespread commercial distribution. For clarity, the festival considers commercial distribution to include television broadcast; subscription streaming platforms or transactional or ad-supported streaming outlets; or wide theatrical release. Films with wide distribution deals signed prior to the Festival but not in effect until after the Festival are eligible for acceptance.
- Notification of acceptance will be emailed through FilmFreeway, to the original submitter.
- All filmmakers will be notified by
late June prior to our August festival regarding programming decisions.
Awards & Prizes
In addition to showcasing films in our competitive program, our community considers all programmed films for the following awards and prizes.
- Our Juried Prizes for Best Narrative Feature, Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short, Audience Award-Feature and Audience Award-Short.
- The Hernandez/Bayliss Prize for the feature film that best captures the triumph of the human spirit and honors the inspirational power of independent filmmaking. Prize: $1000.
- The Clio Visualizing History Prize for the Advancement of Women in Film, honoring a woman filmmaker whose feature film boldly portrays the story of a person or events of historical significance. Prize: $1000.
- The Gaia Prize for Environmental Filmmaking, honoring a feature film with exceptional insights into environmental issues. Prize: $1000.
- The Cadwell Family Prize for Best Vermont-Made Film, honoring a Vermont-made film, either a short or a feature, of exceptional significance. Prize: $1000.
- The Kate Hearst Prize, given to a feature or a short film that explores human connectivity by revealing vital relationships between individuals, local communities, global collectives and/or species who share our planet. Prize: $1000.
- The Gamble-Paison Prize for Best International Feature Film, recognizing excellence in feature narrative or documentary filmmaking by a first or second time director. Prize: $1,000.
- The Swift House Prize for Best Depiction of the Arts, presented to either a feature or short film that best portrays a story of an artistic creation or endeavor. Prize: $1,000.
- The Jeanine Basinger Prize for Best Student Film, awarded to a short film created by an enrolled student, undergraduate or graduate that best demonstrates the art of filmmaking. Films made by an enrolled student, either as part of the academic curriculum or independent of the curriculum, are eligible. Prize: $1,000.
- The Thaddeus Stevens Prize for Social Engagement, in tribute to the heroic Vermonter, Thaddeus Stevens, who played a decisive role in the abolition of slavery and the establishment of free public schooling in America. Prize: $500.
- The Ralph Steiner Prize for Poetic Cinema, in recognition of the groundbreaking work of pioneering American documentarian and photographer Ralph Steiner. Prize: $500.
- The AICEF Prize for Cross-Cultural Filmmaking, honoring an American filmmaker whose work deftly explores and embraces cross cultural themes, and awarding an all-expenses-paid round trip to screen their film in Indonesia after screening at MNFF.