Nightmares Film Festival

Columbus, OH, United States, North America

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General Information

edition

6th

Contact details

1550 N. High St. Columbus, OH 43201 United States

43201

nightmaresfilmfest@gmail.com

N/A

Web & social

Venue

Gateway Film Center 1550 North High Street Columbus, Ohio 43201, , United States Show me on the map

About the festival

One of MovieMaker magazine's "Bloody Best Genre Fests in the World."

Previously participating studios: Neon, Gunpowder & Sky, Magnolia, IFC, American Genre Film Archive.

"The Cannes of horror"
- iHorror

"Highly recommend submitting ... maybe more than any other festival"
- HorrorHound Magazine

"One of the best fests in the world ... a wonderful, welcoming home for fans of independent horror and genre cinema"
- Dread Central

"One of the most highly regarded horror film fests in the United States"
-Gruesome Magazine

"One of the best-curated shorts programs on the planet"
- The Film Coterie

"Mindblowing"
- We Are Indie Horror

"Immediately in the class of the best genre festivals anywhere"
- Bloody Disgusting

"Quite possibly the best four days of film programming ever put together, EVER"
- Days of the Dead

"Among the premier horror film festivals in the country, if not the world."
- Horror Hound

"A must for genre filmmakers and fans"
- From Dusk Till Con

Cheer! Shudder! Never sleep again! Audiences and filmmakers discover their new favorite genre films at the world’s premier program of horrific, dreadful and weird movies – Nightmares Film Festival.

Nightmares Film Festival is a destination horror and genre fest conveniently held in the heart of the Midwest: easily reached, easily navigated and inclusive Columbus, Ohio. NFF sets itself apart from other genre fests by its deep year-round connection to the horror filmmaking community, which gives it the first line on the rarest, scariest, most daring and most unsettling films being created around the world.

Festival screenings are held at the world-renowned Gateway Film Center, named one of the 20 best art houses on the continent by Sundance. The film center’s dedicated team of expert projectionists – maybe the last such team in the country – oversees all presentation, to ensure every film looks and sounds its very best.

Nightmares Film Festival celebrates writers with a screenplay contest for horror feature and short scripts, overseen by a Script Pipeline grand champion and Screenwriter of the Year. Support for screenwriters includes the FinaLIST: an opt-in internal listing service before the festival, which allows all selected filmmakers the option to read finalist screenplays and meet with the writers at NFF.

NFF also rewards fandom with surprise gifts and giveaways for its most faithful screening attendees, lovingly known as The Sleepless. So don’t skip that midnight block!

World-class screening facilities. Top-notch films. Filmmakers and fans being shocked and celebrated together. Nightmare Film Festival is a prestige festival and part of advancing horror filmmaking around the world.

Short and feature filmmakers and screenwriters selected for NFF compete for the coveted Night Mare, the festival’s beautiful hand-sculpted award honoring the dark horses of horror and genre filmmaking. The Nightmares Film Festival Night Mare is designed and sculpted by toy and figure artist Tony Simione (Star Wars, Walking Dead, Aliens, Marvel Superheroes, Nightmare Before Christmas).

Awards and Night Mare statuettes are given for:

The Film from Hell – best of the festival
Best overall feature/short
Best horror feature/short
Best thriller feature/short
Best midnight feature/short
Best horror-comedy feature/short
Best director feature/short
Best cinematography feature/short
Best writing feature/short
Best lead performance feature/short
Best supporting performance feature/short
Best Recurring Nightmare

Screenwriting: best screenplay feature/short

Esprit de Gore

About

One of MovieMaker magazine's "Bloody Best Genre Fests in the World."

Previously participating studios: Neon, Gunpowder & Sky, Magnolia, IFC, American Genre Film Archive.

"The Cannes of horror"
- iHorror

"Highly recommend submitting ... maybe more than any other festival"
- HorrorHound Magazine

"One of the best fests in the world ... a wonderful, welcoming home for fans of independent horror and genre cinema"
- Dread Central

"One of the most highly regarded horror film fests in the United States"
-Gruesome Magazine

"One of the best-curated shorts programs on the planet"
- The Film Coterie

"Mindblowing"
- We Are Indie Horror

"Immediately in the class of the best genre festivals anywhere"
- Bloody Disgusting

"Quite possibly the best four days of film programming ever put together, EVER"
- Days of the Dead

"Among the premier horror film festivals in the country, if not the world."
- Horror Hound

"A must for genre filmmakers and fans"
- From Dusk Till Con

NFF also rewards fandom with surprise gifts and giveaways for its most faithful screening attendees, lovingly known as The Sleepless. So don’t skip that midnight block!

Awards and Night Mare statuettes are given for:

Screenwriting: best screenplay feature/short

Esprit de Gore

Awards & Winners

There are no winners yet for this festival

Terms and rules

Submission Eligibility:
The festival welcomes for consideration short films of 59 minutes or less and feature films of 60 minutes or longer in the categories of Horror, Thriller and Midnight as described below, produced after January 2016. Premieres are prioritized in programming.

Horror: Tales of terror and death.
Thriller: Tales of dark suspense.
Midnight: Tales of the weird and bizarre.
Documentary: True stories of the horrific

All submissions not originally in English must be subtitled in English, and screenplays must be in English.

In support of paying creators, Nightmares Film Festival does not offer fee waivers.

Submission Materials:
1) Entry fee paid by credit card or PayPal. Entry fees are non-refundable.

2) Private online/FilmFreeway screener link (preferred) or 2 preview DVDs (NTSC only) postmarked by the listed deadline and mailed to the festival's attention at 1550 N. High St., Columbus, OH, 43201. Please test DVDs on several makes and models of players. DVD+RW and DVD-RW are not acceptable formats. DVDs will not be returned.

Jury:
The Nightmares Film Festival jury is composed of film production, exhibition, press and audience community members. Their decisions on official selections, award nominees and award winners are final.

Notification:
Filmmakers of selected films will be notified by email or phone.

Exhibition Prints:
Nightmares Film Festival accepts for exhibition HD digital files, Blu-Rays (features) and DCPs. Materials must be received by the cutoff communicated to selected filmmakers; films not received by the cutoff will be replaced in the program. The festival does not pay shipping costs for delivery or return of materials.

The Fine Print:
NFF reserves the right to disqualify any submission without refund of submission fees.

While premieres are not requirements for NFF, premiere status is considered in final programming decisions.

All accepted films are scheduled at the discretion of the Nightmares Film Festival staff.

Films produced or financed by a major motion picture studio are eligible for festival screenings but are not eligible for competitive awards. Films that have acquired distribution are eligible for festival screenings but are not eligible for competitive awards.

Nightmares Film Festival is hereby granted the right to use an excerpt from any film submitted and accepted for exhibition at the festival for promotional purposes. The festival is hereby also granted the right to use image(s) and/or biographical information of the filmmakers for promotional purposes. The festival reserves the right to fill in any information not supplied by the filmmaker from whatever source available and will not be responsible if incorrect information is entered.

It is the responsibility of the filmmaker to secure authorization for any copyrighted material that may be used in the film. I shall indemnify and hold harmless Nightmares Film Festival from and against any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney's fees, and costs of the court) which may be incurred by reason of any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss of or damage to the screening videos entered.

NFF does not pay screening fees.

By submitting your film, you expressly acknowledge and agree that you shall be bound by the terms of this agreement.

Ratings & Reviews

Categories and fees

Horror Features

Entry fees

Early Bird (25th October, 2020) $39

Regular (13th May, 2021) $49

Late (13th September, 2021) $59

Description

Tales of terror and death at least 60 minutes long.

Horror Shorts

Entry fees

Early Bird (25th October, 2020) $29

Regular (13th May, 2021) $39

Late (13th September, 2021) $49

Description

Tales of terror and death no more than 59 minutes long.

Thriller Features

Entry fees

Early Bird (25th October, 2020) $39

Regular (13th May, 2021) $49

Late (13th September, 2021) $59

Description

Tales of dark suspense at least 60 minutes long.

Thriller Shorts

Entry fees

Early Bird (25th October, 2020) $29

Regular (13th May, 2021) $39

Late (13th September, 2021) $49

Description

Tales of dark suspense no more than 59 minutes long.

Midnight Features

Entry fees

Early Bird (25th October, 2020) $39

Regular (13th May, 2021) $49

Late (13th September, 2021) $59

Description

Tales of the weird and bizarre at least 60 minutes long.

Midnight Shorts

Entry fees

Early Bird (25th October, 2020) $29

Regular (13th May, 2021) $39

Late (13th September, 2021) $49

Description

Tales of the weird and bizarre no more than 59 minutes long.

Short Screenplay

Entry fees

Early Bird (25th October, 2020) $29

Regular (13th May, 2021) $39

Late (13th September, 2021) $49

Description

Screenplays in any horror dimension (horror, thriller, horror-comedy, midnight, etc.) of no more than 15 pages.

Feature Screenplay

Entry fees

Early Bird (25th October, 2020) $39

Regular (13th May, 2021) $49

Late (13th September, 2021) $59

Description

Screenplays in any horror dimension (horror, thriller, horror-comedy, midnight, etc.) of at least 60 and no more than 120 pages.

Documentary Features

Entry fees

Early Bird (25th October, 2020) $39

Regular (13th May, 2021) $49

Late (13th September, 2021) $59

Description

True stories 60 minutes or longer that are stranger than fiction -- especially about the depravity, darkness or dementedness in the real world.

Documentary Shorts

Entry fees

Early Bird (25th October, 2020) $29

Regular (13th May, 2021) $39

Late (13th September, 2021) $49

Description

True stories of 59 minutes or fewer that are stranger than fiction -- especially about the depravity, darkness or dementedness in the real world.

Ohio Feature

Entry fees

Early Bird (25th October, 2020) $29

Regular (13th May, 2021) $39

Late (13th September, 2021) $49

Description

Horror, thriller or midnight features (60 minutes or longer) produced in Ohio by an Ohio-based filmmaker.

Ohio Short

Entry fees

Early Bird (25th October, 2020) $29

Regular (13th May, 2021) $39

Late (13th September, 2021) $49

Description

Horror, thriller or midnight short films (59 minutes or shorter) produced in Ohio by an Ohio-based filmmaker.

Horror Comedy Short

Entry fees

Early Bird (25th October, 2020) $29

Regular (13th May, 2021) $39

Late (13th September, 2021) $49

Description

Films 59 minutes or shorter that deliver laughs in a horror scenario.

Horror Comedy Feature

Entry fees

Early Bird (25th October, 2020) $39

Regular (13th May, 2021) $49

Late (13th September, 2021) $59

Description

Films of 60 minutes or longer that deliver laughs in a horror scenario.

Recurring Nightmare Short

Entry fees

Early Bird (25th October, 2020) $29

Regular (13th May, 2021) $39

Late (13th September, 2021) $49

Description

Horror, thriller or midnight films of 60 minutes or less created by filmmakers with works previously screened at Nightmares.

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Nightmares Film Festival

General Information

Venue

About the festival

Awards & Winners

Terms and rules

Web & Social

Ratings & Reviews

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Categories and fees

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