Over fifteen years covering Australian film festivals, I’ve spent a lot of time talking to the people who actually read submissions. Programmers, pre-screeners, artistic directors — the folks who sit in dark rooms watching hundreds of films and deciding which ones make the cut.

Here’s what I’ve learned. None of this is secret knowledge. Most of it is common sense. And yet the same avoidable mistakes keep showing up year after year.

Get the Technical Basics Right

This sounds obvious, but a staggering number of submissions are undermined by technical problems. Your screener link doesn’t work. The password is wrong. The file won’t play. The aspect ratio is mangled.

Festival programmers are watching dozens of films a day. If your screener takes more than thirty seconds to load, or the first minute has unwatchable audio, you’ve already lost their attention. They’re human. They’re tired. Don’t give them a reason to click away.

Before you submit anywhere, test your screener on multiple devices. Have someone else watch it on their laptop and their phone. Make sure the Vimeo password works. Make sure the download link doesn’t expire. This is the lowest-hanging fruit in the entire process, and getting it wrong is the most common self-inflicted wound I see.

Your Short Description Matters More Than You Think

Most submission platforms ask for a logline and a short synopsis. Filmmakers routinely treat these as afterthoughts, dashing off something vague or overwrought ten minutes before the deadline.

The short description is often the first thing a programmer reads. It frames their expectations before they press play. A clear, specific, well-written description tells the programmer you understand your own film. A rambling, cliche-filled paragraph tells them you might not.

Keep it concrete. What happens in the film? Who is it about? What’s the central tension or question? You’re not writing marketing copy. You’re giving a busy person the context they need to engage with your work.

Understand What Each Festival Is Looking For

Not all festivals are the same, and submitting the same film to every festival on the calendar is a waste of money and energy. Each festival has a curatorial identity. MIFF is different from Flickerfest is different from CinefestOZ is different from Revelation Perth.

Before you submit, watch films from previous editions. Read the festival’s programming statement. Look at what they’ve selected in recent years. Ask yourself honestly: does my film fit here?

This doesn’t mean your film has to mirror last year’s selections. Festivals want to be surprised, but within a framework. A hyperlocal drama about a Tasmanian fishing community might be perfect for one festival and completely wrong for another. Do the research. It saves you submission fees and saves programmers time.

The Rise of AI in Festival Operations

Here’s something filmmakers should be aware of: many Australian festivals are now using AI tools in their operations. Not to judge your film — that’s still done by humans — but to manage the avalanche of administrative work that submission season creates.

Several festivals have adopted AI-powered systems to handle enquiry responses, submission confirmations, and logistics coordination. Some larger festivals are working with AI consultants in Sydney to build systems that triage incoming communications, flag technical issues with screeners, and generate scheduling options for programming teams.

What this means for filmmakers is practical. Confirmation emails are more reliable. Response times for technical queries are faster. And the administrative burden on staff is lighter, which means more time for the thing that matters: actually watching your film.

It also means that your submission metadata — those fields you rush through on FilmFreeway — is being parsed by systems that care about consistency. Spell your name the same way every time. Use the correct running time. Categorise your film accurately. These details matter more in an automated pipeline than they did when a single intern was managing a spreadsheet.

Don’t Neglect Your Festival Strategy

Submitting to festivals should be strategic, not scattershot. Think about your premiere hierarchy. Most major festivals want premiere status — Australian premiere at minimum, world premiere ideally. If you burn your premiere at a small festival with limited exposure, you may close the door on a larger one.

Talk to your producer about this. Map out your ideal festival run and build your submission timeline around key deadlines. If your top choice doesn’t accept you, move to the next tier. Don’t panic-submit everywhere at once.

Be Professional in Your Communications

When you email a festival, be brief and clear. State what you need and be polite. Don’t follow up aggressively if you don’t hear back within a week. Festival teams are small and usually dealing with hundreds of filmmakers simultaneously. Professionalism goes a long way, and rudeness is remembered. The Australian film community is tiny. People talk.

Accept the Uncertainty

Sometimes great films don’t get selected. Programming decisions involve factors beyond your film’s quality: thematic fit, runtime constraints, scheduling logistics, competitive programming against other festivals. A rejection might mean the festival received twelve films about the same topic and could only program two.

Make the best film you can. Present it professionally. Submit strategically. Then accept that some of it is out of your hands. The filmmakers with the healthiest relationship with festivals treat them as one piece of a larger distribution strategy, not the sole validation of their work.