How to Spot Shady Film Festivals: A Guide for Filmmakers

Film festivals are vital to the independent film world. They provide filmmakers with opportunities for exposure, networking, and potentially securing distribution for their work. And, hey, who doesn’t like to collect film festival Laurel emblems for their film posters to add credibility?

If you’ve put your heart and sweat into filming and producing an amazing film it will be noticed and flourish on its own merits and word of mouth.

But there’s a dark side of film festivals lurking out there.

In their quest to gain instant validation, new filmmakers (or even more experienced filmmakers) can go on a spree to acquire worthless Laurels awards to create an illusion of instant success and being able to declare themselves an “award-winning filmmaker.” By doing so, they’re putting their reputation at risk. Submitting a film and learning two weeks later that you’re an official selection is a huge red flag. It simply doesn’t happen like that in the legitimate world of film festivals.

Here’s the hard truth: Film submission sites like FilmFreeway are the wild west of film festivals. While many festivals operate with integrity, some exist merely to capitalize on filmmakers’ ambitions and pocket their submission fees without offering any real value in return. The bogus ones operate like puppy mills of the film festival circuit, being nothing more than awards mills.

These schemes are nothing new and they’ve been around for years. Shady schemes like bogus poetry contests and pay-for-award business award programs exploit people’s emotions, aspirations, and desire for recognition. These scams, including shady film festivals, masquerade as genuine opportunities to showcase talent or earn industry accolades, preying on unsuspecting participants by charging steep fees for submission, or the “privilege” of winning. In reality, the awards or features offered have little to no credibility or merit, devaluing the recognition they purport to bestow. For creatives and professionals who invest their hard work and hopes into these schemes, the results can be disheartening, leaving them out of pocket and often tarnishing their reputations by association. Such scams erode trust in legitimate competitions and awards, making it harder for genuine efforts to shine through.

As a filmmaker, it’s crucial to learn how to identify shady film festivals to avoid wasting time, money, and energy.

Here’s how you can spot red flags before committing to a festival:

1. Deceptive Festival Name

The World Film Festival of Cannes and International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema are prime examples of bogus festivals that use deceptive names to exploit the prestige associated with renowned festivals. Despite sharing the famous name Cannes, the World Film Festival of Cannes is not affiliated with the actual famous Cannes Film Festival, one of the most prestigious and respected film festivals globally. By using a name nearly identical to the well-known festival, this scheme deliberately aims to create confusion, suckering filmmakers into spending money to submit films in hopes of ‘glory’. Filmmakers might think they’ve won something HUGE, and their friends on Facebook will likely think it’s HUGE too. But it’s not. They all become duped by the deceptive scam. And by continuing to be fooled, they keep the scheme spreading by posting on Facebook and other social media. Truth bomb: There’s no red carpet, no speeches, and no need to go rent a tuxedo. Ever.

2. Money-Making Schemes

The World Film Festival of Cannes charges very high submission fees because it operates on the scheme that its deceptive name fools naive filmmakers into thinking it’s the real Cannes Festival. You won’t just pay to submit a film. You’ll also have to pay additional fees as the scheme evolves. Want a framed ‘monthly winner’ certificate, it costs extra. Want a trophy, it costs extra. Want a professional photo of yourself against the festival backdrop that fakes like it’s Hollywood? That’s extra too. Want to attend a shady ‘celebration’ event, it costs extra. This just doesn’t happen in the real world of professional film festivals. Bogus festivals have monthly ‘awards’ and neverending or rolling submission deadlines as a gimmick to keep the entries — and revenue — flowing 365 days a year. They also hand out a monthly flow of ego-inflating Official Selection Laurel emblems that are worthless. Every submission ‘wins’ one of these. Know this: These shady festivals will not grab the attention of a producer or distributor, because these people aren’t there. They will not get your film in front of an audience of more than a handful of other filmmakers. What they will do is line the pockets of someone who has not seen and does not care one bit about the movie you spent years making.

3. Lack of Transparency

There is no actual board of directors as found in professional festivals. Instead they are run by one person or a few people as a ‘business’. Shady festivals usually promise exposure, awards, and distribution opportunities, but don’t deliver. A legitimate festival should have clear and transparent information on its website, including details about its mission, juried selection process, and industry involvement. Likewise, if the festival website looks poorly designed or incomplete it’s a dead giveaway that it’s bogus. An amateurish website doesn’t square with their claims of being prestigious. On the other hand, real film festivals have professional websites and put resources into their operations.

4. Beware ‘Festivals’ with Hundreds of Categories

Hello, do we need to call Captain Obvious on this one? A dead giveaway that a festival is bogus is when it has hundreds of categories so they can give out an award to every single film. A zillion categories means more revenue. There’s never any transparency about how many submissions are received in each category because it doesn’t matter for the scheme. Real festivals don’t give out awards for “Best hair and makeup in a short comedy/short drama/short horror/feature comedy/feature drama…” Or “Best Composer of the Future.” Or “Best Weird/WTF Film.” Seriously, you can’t make this sh*%$ up.

6. Jury Review? What Jury Review?

Credible festivals have an intense jury review process of submissions that take several months. They commonly also have limited categories. Shady festivals avoid providing clear criteria for what makes a film eligible, desirable, or even selected. Look for festivals with well-defined categories and a transparent judging process. Genuine festivals often provide guidelines and offer feedback, while shady ones operate with no clear standards.

7. Neverending Submission Periods

Real film festivals have clearly defined time limits on entries. Shady film festivals often use the ‘monthly awards’ scheme. They do this because the goal is maximizing submission fees rather than curating a quality selection of films. By keeping the submission window open for such an extended period, these festivals can accumulate a larger volume of entries, profiting from the submission fees of hopeful filmmakers without the intention of truly selecting or showcasing their work. The ‘monthly’ winners are then targeted to pay extra to attend phony celebration events. Surprise, when you pay the fees and show up, the only people in the room are the other filmmakers who got suckered into thinking it was some big industry event. Nope, it’s at a hotel lounge.

8. Every Submitted Film Is Declared an ‘Official Selection’ Winner

Shady film festivals often engage in the deceptive practice of designating every single film submitted as an “Official Selection.” This is an advertising tactic to lure in more filmmakers. By offering this title to all entrants, regardless of the quality or relevance of the films, these festivals create a false sense of prestige, leading filmmakers to believe they’ve achieved something noteworthy. This “Official Selection” label is then used by the filmmaker in promotional materials, website listings, and social media posts to make themselves appear even more important. This also helps the bogus festival appear legitimate and impressive, attracting even more submissions. However, the reality is that the honour holds no real value, as the festival is not curating films based on merit or artistic quality, but merely exploiting the concept of being “selected” to boost their own visibility and revenue. This tactic preys on filmmakers’ dreams of recognition, ultimately offering little in terms of real exposure or meaningful opportunities.

9. Quantity Over Quality

The urge to acquire film laurels at any cost, particularly from low-credibility festivals, can ultimately harm a filmmaker’s career in the long run. While having laurels on your film might seem like a way to boost its legitimacy and appeal, being associated with questionable festivals can tarnish your reputation and credibility within the industry. Discerning distributors, agents, and potential collaborators can easily spot low-quality festivals that offer nothing beyond a shiny sticker, leading them to question the value of your film. Additionally, filmmakers who chase laurels from such festivals may end up neglecting more reputable events that offer genuine networking opportunities, industry exposure, and meaningful connections. Focusing on quantity over quality in this regard can send the wrong message about your commitment to the craft and the professionalism of your work, ultimately detracting from your career prospects in a competitive and industry-savvy environment.

10. Filmmakers Inboxes Are Flooded With Winning Emails

Congratulations! You’ve been selected! A week later: Congratulations! You’re a Semi-Finalist! A week later: Congratulations! You’re a finalist! You get the picture. It all sounds too good to be true. No legitimate film festivals operate like this. Professional film festival will disclose the line-up of judges that will evaluate the filmmakers’ works. To choose a victor, they will give their reasons and criteria that influenced their decisions. On the other hand, bogus festivals will only announce Official Selection winners via email without any clear elaboration. And it never fails that those cookie-cutter emails to winners are always sent surprising fast after an entry is received. Hmmm. Bogus. Yep!

11. Worthless Laurels

As long as you pay, you get a Winner Laurel. Scam festivals are really just a kind of “competition” that exist purely so that people can easily put laurels on their film marketing because they’re not actually competing against anything. Every filmmaker receives an email declaring them a “winner.” But there are no details of the films, no images, no videos. But the festivals do make it really really easy to download your winning Laurel so you can post it on social media and tell all your friends who will then flood your comments section with praise and reshare it to their friends. If there ever was a brilliant and deceptive pyramid-style word-of-mouth marketing scheme, this is it!

12. Amateurish Spammy Social Media Accounts

Dead Giveaway #2,987 that a festival is bogus is if you look at the festivals’ social media accounts. Take one look at the World Film Festival of Cannes’ social media accounts and they scream SPAM! Instagram and Facebook accounts are spam-filled feeds of amateurish cookie-cutter graphics announcing endless monthly winners (and not surprising, zero reasons why they are monthly winners! P.S. That’s Dead Giveaway #2988 if you’re counting). Real film festival have real photos of real people from the actual festival, real in-depth interviews with winners and why a film won, and everyday real-life behind the scenes of running a professional festival, etc.

13. The Great Cannes Scam Embarrassment

Submitting a film to a dubious scheme like the “World Film Festival of Cannes” and misleading others into believing it is the renowned Cannes Film Festival poses significant risks to a filmmaker’s reputation. Unless you disclose to your audience, media outlets, etc., the difference every time you post to your socials exclaiming “We’ve won again at Cannes!” you are part of the scheme to deliberately mislead people. Such actions can result in widespread embarrassment and diminish credibility within the industry, particularly if you knew it wasn’t the real Cannes Film Festival but allowed the community to continue to believe so. Colleagues, collaborators, and audiences may view the filmmaker as either untrustworthy or poorly informed, undermining their professional integrity. This can also tarnish relationships with clients or backers who expect honesty and quality in representation. In an industry that values authenticity and reputation, such missteps can have long-lasting repercussions, including being excluded from future opportunities and networking circles.

Pro Tip: Trust Your Instincts

Don’t fill your IMDb page up with embarrassing nothing awards from shady festivals. You’ll regret it later in your career and IMDb won’t take them off.

While it’s true that some festivals start small and may not yet have the same resources as major events, even legit small festivals will still show clear signs of professionalism, transparency, and dedication to filmmakers. It’s how festivals gain credibility within the film industry. Always do your due diligence before submitting, and never feel pressured into paying high submission fees or entering a festival that doesn’t feel right.

At the end of the day, trust your instincts and remember that the festival circuit is about much more than just the prize. A good festival can help you build a network, gain exposure, and make valuable industry connections. Don’t settle for one that’s simply looking to take advantage of your work. By being proactive and vigilant, you can avoid the shady ones and focus your energy on events that truly support independent filmmakers.