Film Festival Awards

Awards & Prizes

Fearmaker of the Year
Best Short Film
Best Feature
Best International Film
Best Special Effects
Audience Choice
Florida Spotlight

Rules & Terms

GENRE ELIGIBILITY
Spooky Empire seeks independent feature-length and short films from around the world in any of the following main genre groups:

Horror, Supernatural, Sci-Fi, Animation, Thriller, Suspense, Cult, Bizarre, Genre-defying, Experimental
Documentaries – with a genre-related or cult/bizarre subject matter.

MICRO-SHORT FILM ELIGIBILITY:

Completed after January 1st, 2019
Works-in-progress and rough cuts are not accepted
Run time of less than 10 minutes
Not previously submitted to the festival
Films in a language other than English must be subtitled in English

SHORT FILM ELIGIBILITY:

Completed after January 1st, 2019
Works-in-progress and rough cuts are not accepted
Run time of less than 30 minutes
Not previously submitted to the festival
Films in a language other than English must be subtitled in English

FEATURE FILM ELIGIBILITY:

Completed after January 1st, 2019
Works-in-progress and rough cuts are not accepted
Run time of 30 minutes or longer
Not previously submitted to the festival
Films in a language other than English must be subtitled in English

2021 Submission Deadlines & Mechanism:

REGULAR DEADLINE : AUGUST 20, 2021

LATE DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

Spooky Empire ONLY accepts online film screeners. Also, any applicable submission fees must also be paid online at time of your entry.

Our Standard Festival Participation Agreement (Terms and Conditions), which all submitted films are also expected to follow is as follows:

GENERAL AGREEMENT OF PARTICIPATION IN THE SPOOKY EMPIRE FILM FESTIVAL:

I have read and accept the terms and regulations of THE SPOOKY EMPIRE FILM FESTIVAL. I will provide the festival with any additional information required pursuant to these rules and regulations. I authorize the The Spooky Empire Film Festival to exhibit my film, and if selected, I confirm that an exhibition copy will be available in a required format for screening during the 2019 festival (October 31 – November 3, 2019). I certify that I hold all necessary rights for the submission of this film/video to the Spooky Empire Film Festival and that all rights and clearances have been made. This film is not subject to any litigation nor is threatened by any litigation. I hold Spooky Empire Film Festival harmless from damage to, or loss of any or all materials en route to, from or otherwise at the festival. I assume all legal responsibilities therein. By Agreeing to these terms, I transfer to Spooky Empire Film Festival 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 2018 festival, and for other non-commercial uses related to the promotion of the 2017 festival. I hereby agree to indemnify Spooky Empire Film Festival, in the event that such rights have not been properly transferred

Spooky Empire’s International Horror Film Festival proudly accepts entries via FilmFreeway.com, the world’s best online submission platform. FilmFreeway offers free HD online screeners, unlimited video storage, digital press kits, and more.