Dear Asian filmmakers the Sundance Film Festival (USA) is accepting New Frontier Projects (until September 1st), Short Films (until September 4th), Episodic Content (until September 18th), and Feature Films (until September 25th, 2023).

* Note in this article we will only post information for International productions. Requirements for American films can be found at the Sundance Film Festival’s website. We also encourage filmmakers and producers to read the complete Rules and Regulations from the Sundance website*

General Rules and Regulations for Submitting a Film:
– If more than 50% of the Project’s financing originated from sources outside of the United States, the Project may only be submitted in one of the following categories: International Narrative Feature Films, International Documentary Feature Films, International Short Films, New Frontier Projects, or Episodic Content. Institute reserves the right to consider the Project for any Festival program, regardless of the submission category selected.
– If the Project’s final running or exhibition time is projected to be 50 minutes or more, the Project may only be submitted in one of the following categories: International Narrative Feature Films, International Documentary Feature Films, New Frontier Projects, or Episodic Content.
– If the Project’s final running time is projected to be less than 50 minutes, the Project may only be submitted in one of the following categories: International Short Films, New Frontier Projects, or Episodic Content.
– Incomplete versions of International Narrative and Documentary Feature Films that have been or will be screened as “works-in-progress” still retain Festival eligibility.
– International Narrative and Documentary Feature Films that have been or will be exhibited theatrically at one or more private screenings for which tickets were or will not be made available to the general public retain eligibility for submission to the Festival in all categories.
– International Narrative and Documentary Feature Films that have been or will be released via any home video or public distribution platform (including, but not limited to, Bluray, DVD, digital download, streaming, or video on demand) or broadcast on television in any country prior to January 29, 2024 are not eligible for submission to the Festival unless the version submitted is significantly different from the version that was previously made available to the general public. The Institute shall have the sole authority and discretion to determine whether a Project that was previously released via any method described above has been changed significantly from the previously released or broadcast version. The Institute reserves the sole and exclusive right to determine a previously released or broadcast project’s eligibility, without refund of any or all submission fees previously collected from the Applicant, based on the content of the submitted version of the Project as compared with the previously released or broadcast version.
– International Narrative and Documentary Feature Films that have been or will be exhibited theatrically, broadcast on television, or screened at other festivals within their country of origin prior to January 29, 2024 are eligible for open submission to the Festival in their respective categories of submission.
– International Narrative and Documentary Feature Films that have been or will be exhibited theatrically, screened at other festivals, broadcast or streamed on television or the Internet anywhere outside of their country of origin prior to January 29, 2024 are not eligible for open submission to the Festival.
– Short Films do not need to retain any sort of premiere status. International Short Films do not forfeit their eligibility for submission to the Festival if they were previously exhibited theatrically or via any home video platform, made available for digital download, broadcast or streamed on television or the internet, or screened at any number of festivals anywhere in the world.
– Episodic Content Projects originating from outside of the United States remain eligible if any of the submitted content has been released only within their country of origin or not released at all via any platform (broadcast television, Blu-ray, DVD, streaming, VOD, etc.) prior to January 29, 2024.
– Projects completed prior to January 1, 2022, are not eligible for submission to the Institute for 2024 Sundance Festival consideration.
– Projects that have been submitted for Festival consideration in previous years are eligible for re-submission for 2024 Festival consideration only if the content of the submitted Project has changed significantly since the previous year in which the Project was submitted.
– Applicants submitting Projects that contain significant non-English spoken dialogue must provide on-screen English subtitles.

Submission Categories & Eligibility Requirements:

International Narrative Feature Films:
–  Any narrative or non-scripted work of fiction originating from outside of the United States with a running time of 50 minutes or more. Only films retaining international premiere status are eligible for open submission to this category. Completed films that have been or will have been exhibited theatrically (festival or otherwise) outside of the film’s country or countries of origin prior to January 29, 2024 are not eligible for open submission to this category. Films that have been or will have been made available to the general public in a non-theatrical form, either for free or for purchase, prior to January 29, 2024 are not eligible to submit to this category. This includes, but is not limited to, television broadcast, home video, or any digital or online platform in any country or countries.

International Documentary Feature Films:
– Any nonfiction film originating from outside of the United States with a running time of 50 minutes or more. If your documentary contains re-enactments or other fictionalized depictions of actual events, you may submit it to this category, but we will ultimately decide which of our Festival programs is best suited for your project, if accepted. Only films retaining international premiere status are eligible for open submission to this category. Completed films that have been or will have been exhibited theatrically (festival or otherwise) outside of the film’s country or countries of origin prior to January 29, 2024 are not eligible for open submission to this category. Films that have been or will have been made available to the general public in a non-theatrical form, either for free or for purchase, prior to January 29, 2024 are not eligible to submit to this category. This includes, but is not limited to, television broadcast, home video, or any digital or online platform in any country or countries.

International Short Films:
– Any film or video project originating from outside of the United States with a running time of less than 50 minutes, including credits. This includes scripted or improvisational fiction, nonfiction or documentary, experimental film or video, animation, music video, or any other short-form film or video project. In order to qualify as an International Short Film, at least half of the submitted project’s financing must originate from outside of the United States. Short films have no premiere requirements or prior screening restrictions that impact Festival eligibility and may have been screened at any number of festivals or other public theatrical exhibitions, broadcast or streamed on television or the Internet, and/or released via any home video or other public distribution platform anywhere in the world.

– Episodic Content:
Any live-action, documentary/nonfiction, or animation project presented in or intended to be presented in a multi-episode format. This includes pilots, pilot presentations, webseries, docuseries, limited series, anthologies, or any other film or video project that was created to unfold over multiple episodes. Episodic projects may originate from anywhere in the world and you may submit single or multiple episodes of the same project, as long as all episodes play continuously in one single video file for digital upload and do not exceed 10GB in size. They accept both short-form and long-form content, with no restrictions regarding minimum or maximum episode or series length. Projects originating from outside of the United States remain eligible if any or all of the submitted content has been released only within the project’s country or countries of origin or not released at all. If some but not all of the episodes have been exhibited theatrically or made available via any other public platform, you may only submit episodes that have not been exhibited theatrically or otherwise released to the public. For example, if the first season of your series is available online, you may only submit episodes from a subsequent season that have not been released in any form.

– New Frontier Projects:
A wide range of innovative works and immersive experiences will be considered for the Festival’s New Frontier program. These works may include VR/AR/MR/XR projects created for a variety of platforms, media installations, live cinematic performances, custom digital platforms, or any combination of those elements. Projects may have previously been exhibited or performed at other festivals, industry trade shows, and/or events/conventions and still retain their eligibility for submission to this category. However, we do take premiere status into consideration in the final selection process. If your project includes immersive, interactive, or live performance elements, you should select the “VR / XR / Immersive” category when you create your project page on FilmFreeway. If your experimental film or video project does not include any of these elements, please select one of the feature or short film categories listed above.

– Submission Fees & Deadlines:

Notification Date: December 4, 2023

We recommend filmmakers to read the full Rules and Regulations here: Official PDF File

To submit to the festival please go to: https://filmfreeway.com/Sundance

We remind readers that the Sundance Film Festival will take place from January 18 – 28, 2024 in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, as well as online.

To see other Call for Entries please follow the next link: “Call For Entries”.