Wigan & Leigh Film Festival

02 - 18 Oct, 2020

Wigan & Leigh Film Festival logo
Wigan & Leigh Film Festival

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About the festival

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic we have had to make some changes to this year's festival programme.

This year's Wigan and Leigh Short Film Festival will now be a virtual event. We will still be putting on a celebration of North West film-making, an event for young directors and then our main event.

However, as it is not possible currently for Leigh Film to screen films, the festival will be online. The selected entries will be placed on the internet over three successive weekends for film fans to watch at their leisure.

The dates for this year's virtual festival are:
Young film-makers: Friday October 2 - Sunday October 4
North West film-makers: Friday October 9 - Sunday October 11
Main event (Wigan and Leigh Short Film Festival): Friday October 16 - Sunday October 18.

We had planned to hold a celebration of animation at The Fire Within in The Galleries Shopping Centre in Wigan in collaboration with artists Al and Al. Unfortunately this event has had to be postponed until next year. We will select a number of animations for our main event.

All festival events are run entirely by volunteers with all proceeds invested into a nominated charity and community arts.

Please note that the EarlyBird "free" submissions period in the Animation Category has now passed. The same submission charge as with the other categories is now being applied.

We celebrate and show-case low-budget filmmaking and up-and-coming talent from across the country and have screened everything from comedies and dramas to documentaries and animations while including work from across the world.

Working with colleges and universities, we offer work placements and real opportunities for young people to get festival experience.

We are proud to have four patrons, Jo Platt & award winning actors Christopher Eccleston, Ben Batt and Matthew McNulty.

Please subscribe to our Twitter & Facebook pages to hear more news about the event.

We have 4 submission categories which are;
Young Filmmakers aged 16 - 25
North West Filmmakers
Animation
General Entries

About

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic we have had to make some changes to this year's festival programme.

This year's Wigan and Leigh Short Film Festival will now be a virtual event. We will still be putting on a celebration of North West film-making, an event for young directors and then our main event.

However, as it is not possible currently for Leigh Film to screen films, the festival will be online. The selected entries will be placed on the internet over three successive weekends for film fans to watch at their leisure.

The dates for this year's virtual festival are:
Young film-makers: Friday October 2 - Sunday October 4
North West film-makers: Friday October 9 - Sunday October 11
Main event (Wigan and Leigh Short Film Festival): Friday October 16 - Sunday October 18.

We had planned to hold a celebration of animation at The Fire Within in The Galleries Shopping Centre in Wigan in collaboration with artists Al and Al. Unfortunately this event has had to be postponed until next year. We will select a number of animations for our main event.

All festival events are run entirely by volunteers with all proceeds invested into a nominated charity and community arts.

Please note that the EarlyBird "free" submissions period in the Animation Category has now passed. The same submission charge as with the other categories is now being applied.

We celebrate and show-case low-budget filmmaking and up-and-coming talent from across the country and have screened everything from comedies and dramas to documentaries and animations while including work from across the world.

Working with colleges and universities, we offer work placements and real opportunities for young people to get festival experience.

We are proud to have four patrons, Jo Platt & award winning actors Christopher Eccleston, Ben Batt and Matthew McNulty.

Please subscribe to our Twitter & Facebook pages to hear more news about the event.

We have 4 submission categories which are;
Young Filmmakers aged 16 - 25
North West Filmmakers
Animation
General Entries

Awards & Winners

There are no winners yet for this festival

Terms and rules

THE RULES FOR FILM ENTRIES

All films must be 15 minutes or less in length.
Entries to the Young Filmmakers aged 16 to 25 category must have been made by directors/teams under the age of 25 years when filming.
Entries for the North West category must have been made in the North West of England.
Judges, sponsors, administrators, and independent contractors who work with or for the Leigh Film Society are not eligible to enter the festival, nor are their spouses or other immediate family members.
Deadline for submissions to the competition is midnight on 31st August 2020.
Once a film has been entered in the competition, under no circumstances will we accept a new version of the film. If you wish to submit a revised version of your film, you must enter it as a new submission and pay the appropriate entry fee.
There is a $10 USD entrance fee taken when submitting your film on the FilmFreeway website.
The entrance fee is non-refundable.
Films should ideally be submitted in the h.264 MP4 file format but we can accept other formats. We would also prefer that all submissions are supplied at a minimum of 1080p resolution.
All selection & judging decisions are final.
Any conflicts of interest between filmmakers & the selection panel should be declared to the festival organisers IMMEDIATELY.
Digital versions of marketing materials should be made available to be used for our marketing purposes no later than the 29th September 2020.

THE SELECTION PROCESS

By submitting a film/script to the WLFF, you indicate that you have read and accept the Rules and Terms of the Wigan & Leigh Film Festival.
I will provide the festival with any additional information required pursuant to these Rules and Terms.
I authorise the WLFF to exhibit my film, and if selected, I confirm that an exhibition copy will be available in a required format for screening during the 2020 festival.
I certify that I hold all necessary rights for the submission of this film/video to the WLFF, that all rights and clearances have been made and that this film/script is not subject to any litigation nor is threatened by any litigation.
By Agreeing to these Rules and Terms, I transfer to the WLFF the right to use excerpts of the submitted film, its stills, and trailers, for the purposes of publicity and marketing of the film at the 2020 festival, and for other non-commercial uses related to the promotion of the 2020 festival.

Full Entry requirements, Rules and Terms & Conditions are available on our website. Please visit the Submissions page.

Ratings & Reviews

Categories and fees

Animation
Early Bird (1st February, 2020) $10
Regular (15th September, 2020) $10
Late (2nd October, 2020) $10

Films less than 15 minutes in length

North West Filmmaker
Early Bird (1st February, 2020) $10
Regular (15th September, 2020) $10
Late (2nd October, 2020) $10

Films made in the North West of England or films made by filmmakers and/or with participants from the North West of England. Films less than 15 minutes in length

Young Filmmakers aged 16 - 25
Early Bird (1st February, 2020) $10
Regular (15th September, 2020) $10
Late (2nd October, 2020) $10

Entries in the Young Filmmaker category must have been made by directors under the age of 25. Films less than 15 minutes in length

General Entries
Early Bird (1st February, 2020) $10
Regular (15th September, 2020) $10
Late (2nd October, 2020) $10

Films less than 15 minutes in length

Matchmaking

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