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The City Lights Film Festival (formerly TWEETFEST) is now open for its 12th year. Our BIFA qualifying (British Independent Film Awards) short film festival (https://www.bifa.film), includes prizes, trophies, and packages to support the further development of our filmmakers, along with our VIP jury judging!
Our film festival started in 2015 as part of City Nights (formerly UK Actors Tweetup), which has been running since 2010.
Our VIP jury, which judges the finalists, changes annually and comprises casting directors, production companies, agents, BBC writers, sales and distribution representatives, and more. We take pride in getting our short films in front of some of the industry's top talent. And we always have live screenings of the festivals In Competition and in Official Selection and a gala awards night in a central London venue.
Our previous VIP judges list is extensive and includes but is not limited to Hat Trick Comedy Development Team, Casting Director Nancy Bishop, Casting Director Shakyra Dowling, Casting Director Ben Cogan, Casting Director Gemma Sykes, award-winning director Deborah Haywood (PIN CUSHION in Venice Film Festival 2017), Fizz and Ginger Films, award-winning director Jesse Quinones, and award-winning producer Rajita Shah, as well as the Blaine Brothers (Nina Forever), Manuel Puro at Puro Casting (Moon, The Machine), Simon Blake (Still), Jessie Mangum from Goalpost Films (The Sapphires, The Trip, The Escapist) and BAFTA nominated producer Alex Moody (Alan Carr, Argumental, BAFTA nominated Funny Valentines). More here: https://uktweetfest.com/previous-vip-juries/
The film festival is open to all genres of film, including animation and documentary.
You can also submit an International film in the International Film category, and student films can submit to our student film category.
Only British and Irish Short Films are eligible to win the Best Short Film award.
Why are we different?: We are looking for exciting up-and-coming filmmakers who are taking to the screen with new and innovative stories. We want to inspire our audience with movies from the next generation of filmmakers! Diversity and inclusion are also a key part of our programming. We have a team of judges from every part of the film world, who are actively working in the industry, who watch and judge the submissions.
How we support you: We care about the filmmakers, and our festival is about you. We host talks and workshops, a space for filmmakers and actors to network, and we keep in touch with our filmmakers long after their festival journey with us. Our filmmakers come back to City Lights again and again. And longevity in this business is really what it's all about.
AWARDS INCLUDE:Best Short Film (UK only),Best Student Short Film,Best International Short Film plus many more.
Only short films from outside the UK and Ireland can be submitted in this category. City Light Film Festival will consider short film entries in the following categories for inclusion, as long as they are NOT UK shorts: animation, documentary, sci-fi, action, fantasy, drama, comedy, horror or thriller. Entries are limited to 26 minutes in length, including credits.
City Light Film Festival will consider short film entries in the following categories for inclusion, as long as they are UK shorts: animation, documentary, sci-fi, action, fantasy, drama, comedy, horror or thriller. Entries are limited to 26 minutes in length, including credits.
If you enter into the Student Film category, you must have been a student in the UK at the time of making your short film. And you may be asked to provide evidence by the Film Festival team. You can only enter your student short into this category or the Short Film category, but the same film cannot be entered in both categories in a single year.
Angela Peters
Festival Director
Mel Radloff
Presenter and host
Steve Harcourt
Technical Manager
Emily Lee
Volunteer organiser and host