XR Film Festivals 2021 Deadlines

XR FILM FESTIVALS DEADLINE 2022 IS OUT!

The idea behind this material is to give a helpful tool for XR creators in the ocean of Festivals, Awards, Deadlines and Submissions fees. Started few years ago, it become a great instrument not only for people who are just starting their VR path, but for established companies and festivals as well. 2020 was a hard year to follow with great number of festival turning from Green to Red (according to the style of our spreadsheet) marking unability to conduct the festival in the appropraite manner.

Somehow, what we’ve learned in 2020 is that the major element of Virtual Reality is to connect people in reality through a physical exhibition with new creative worlds. So not all the festivals and award were ready to move fully to immersive space, but we hope that 2021 will give all those who are interested in presenting and awarding Creative XR project enough time to prepare the edition which would be satisfying for all the parties.

To be short:

If you are a creator: welcome to the Google Spreadsheet, where we try to update our database with the knowledge from festivals web-sites and our network of contacts.

If you are a festival: please send info about your event&deadline in 2021 to vrfilmfest@gmail.com

We strongly advice to check XRMUST.COM — https://www.xrmust.com/xrdatabase/all-events/ to have a more comprehensive information about festivals and event in XR community. However, here we are trying to do the most simple thing which is useful not only to our readers, but to us – festival curators and content creators ourselves.

And here you can find description of those festivals mentioned in the Spreedsheet with more information about eligibility.

Raindance Film Festival

London, UK
Dates: 27.10–06.11.2021
12.04.2021 — Early Bird Deadline €29.28
10.05.2021 — Regular Deadline €41
14.06.2021 — Late Deadline €41
Web-site: https://filmfreeway.com/Raindance

A MAZE. Awards

Berlin, Germany
Dates: 21.07–24.07.2021
Deadlines: 30.04.2021 — Early Deadline $35
Web-site: www.amaze-berlin.de

Byron Bay International Film Festival

Byron Bay, Australia
Dates: 15.10 — 24.10.2021
Deadlines: 01.05.2021 — Regular Deadline €33.85
04.06.2021 — Late Deadline €42.31
16.07.2021 — Special Extended Deadline €50.77
Cinematic Virtual Reality 360 degree Experience,
Virtual Reality Experience (Interactive)
Web-site :https://filmfreeway.com/ByronBayInternationalFilmFestival

MONTREAL FESTIVAL DU NOUVEAU CINÉMA (FNC)

Montreal, Canada
Dates: 06.10–17.10.2021
Deadlines: 16.04.2021 — Early Deadline $35
15.05.2021 — Regular Deadline $40
01.06.2021 — Late Deadline $50
Web-site: https://filmfreeway.com/NouveauCinema

La Biennale di Venezia // Venice VR

Venice, Italy
Dates: 01.09–11.09.2021
Deadlines: 16.05.2021 Venice Gap Financing Market
31.05.2021 International Competition (150 Euro fee)
https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2021/regulations#iscrizione

DOK Leipzig — Neuland

Leipzig, Germany
Dates: 25.10–31.10.2021
Deadlines: 01.07.2021 — Final Deadline
Web-site: https://www.dok-leipzig.de/en/submission

PASSED SUBMISSIONS:

NewImages

Paris, France
Dates: 09.06–13.06.2021
Deadlines: 22.03.2021–48 € Entry fee XR Competition
22.03.2021 — XR Financing MarketCompetition, Award, Market
Web-site: https://newimagesfestival.com/en/

ANNECY Film Festival

Annecy, France
Dates: 14.06–19.06.2021
Deadlines: 06.02.2021 — Film Project Submissions
06.04.2021 — VR Film competition
Web-site: https://www.annecy.org/home

Tribeca Film Festival

New York, USA
Dates: 9.06–20.06.2021
Deadlines: 13.01.2021 / $80 Tribeca Immersive
13.01.2021 / $525 Tribeca X Award
Web-site: https://tribecafilm.com/festival/submissions

Tribeca Immersive
Tribeca exhibits immersive projects throughout the festival to showcase new forms and uses of emerging media, highlighting innovation across a variety of platforms. These may range from virtual reality and augmented reality projects to cross-platform films, 360 films, multi-media installations, and apps. Submissions will be considered for the Tribeca Virtual Arcade (for mobile and room-scale VR and/or XR projects), for which all World Premiere selections will be eligible for the annual Storyscapes Award. We will also be considering mobile VR/360 projects for our Cinema360 section, some of which will also be included in our Cinema360 Online initiative for a global audience. Project creators will also be considered for the NOW Creators Market, a first-of-its-kind, daylong, private industry market that brings together leading online and immersive storytellers to pitch new projects to a wide range of industry, including distributors, agencies, brands, and more.
ELIGIBLE PROJECTS
Works may include but are not limited to virtual reality projects, 360 films, augmented reality projects, web projects, mobile apps, multi-media installations and multi-platform works, but in any event, projects must have some sort of interactive element. Linear or 2D films will not be accepted.

The Tribeca X Award
is a juried award for storytelling supported by a brand recognizing the intersection of advertising and entertainment. The Tribeca X Award is open to all work funded with support of a brand in collaboration with artists or filmmakers. The finalists will be recognized by the Tribeca Film Festival, and a jury will award the winning selection at the Festival.
ELIGIBLE PROJECTS
Eligible projects include scripted and documentary work for film, TV, digital, episodic, social, and VR/AR, in both feature or short length that were funded with support of a brand in collaboration with artists or filmmakers. Submitted projects must have a storytelling element; projects that are strictly intended as commercial spots will not be considered.

CINEQUEST

San Jose, USA
Dates: 02.03–14.03.2021
Deadline: 15.01.2021 ($65 Entry Fee)
Web-site: https://filmfreeway.com/cinequest

VIRTUAL REALITY COMPETITION & AWARDS
Renowned for its legacy of connecting artists and audiences with ground-breaking media technology, Cinequest presents the fifth edition of its Virtual — Augmented Reality Competition, Awards, and Celebration. Headquartered in the Silicon Valley, Cinequest’s VR & AR Awards will honor and engage the world’s leading VR content creators and innovators virtually in 2021. Submissions must work on either the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive or compatible with the Oculus Go or the Oculus Quest. If your submission is not compatible or additional technology is needed, please email If your submission is not compatible with the Rift, Gear VR, Vive OR additional technology is needed, please email (programming@cinequest.org). Please see instructions on submitting your VR project in the category rules.

Les Ailleurs

Paris, France
Dates: 06.04–11.07.2021
Deadlines: 30.01.2021
Web-site: http://lesailleurs.art/en/
Les Ailleurs is both an exhibition and a competition. The ten immersive experiences programmed in the festival make use of various multi sensorial and immersive technologies : virtual, augmented or mixed reality, spatialized sound design, interactive screens… They will compete for the festival’s Grand Prix (10 000€), awarded by a multi disciplinary jury during the opening week.

GoEast Film Festival // Open Frame Award

Wiesbaden and Frankfurt, Germany
Dates: 20.04–26.04.2021
Deadline: 31.01.2021 (no entry fee)
Web-site: https://filmfreeway.com/goEastFilmFestival
Since 2018 the Open Frame Award is dedicated to Virtual Reality and spherical cinema. Each year we promote and create visibility for Central and Eastern European VR projects among “traditional” filmmakers. The eight selected projects compete for the Open Frame Award. The Open Frame Award is funded by BHF BANK Foundation and the Adolf und Luisa Haeuser-Stiftung für Kunst und Kulturpflege, endowed with 5,000 euros. In 2020 the Open Frame Award (due to Covid-19) was held online, for which we used the platforms VRrOOm und VRChat + Viveport. We are also working on a hybrid solution for goEast 2021, the works will be presented on site in Wiesbaden and Frankfurt and online. Winner of the past three editions:
WHISPERS (Poland 2019) by Jacek Naglowski / Patryk Jordanowicz AFTERMATH VR: EUROMAIDAN (Ukraine 2018) by Alexey Furman / Sergiy Polezhaka
NOMINAL EMPIRE (Russia 2018) by Denis Semenov / Natalia Severina

LICHTER // VR Storytelling Award

Frankfurt, Germany
Dates: 21.04–26.04.2020
Deadline: 31.01.2021 (no entry fee)
Web-site: https://lichter-filmfest.de/en/news/call-for-entries-5-lichter-vr-storytelling-award/

Linear 360° films that can be played on mobile headsets and are not longer than 20 minutes can be submitted. An impartial jury will pick the five best films out of the submissions and select the winner. LICHTER will present these five films as the VR finalists to the audience, and the winner will be announced at the end of the festival. Apart from the prize money, there will of course be the much-desired Bembel trophy, which is an essential item on the shelf of any ambitious filmmaker.

ANNIE AWARDS

Los Angeles, USA
Dates: 16.04.2021
Deadline: 01.02.2021
Web-site: https://annieawards.org/

The Virtual Reality category has been eliminated this year. VR productions must be submitted to either the Short Subject or Special Production category; whichever is more applicable. Submissions must also contain a flat version for general viewing of the production — $125 Entry Fee

FIVARS

Toronto, Canada
Dates: 19.02–02.03.2021
Deadline: 12.02.2021
Web-site: https://fivars.net/
Since 2015 has showcased and in many cases debuted over 200 original works from over 30 countries
Unlike most immersive story programs that are tethered to an existing conference or film festival FIVARS stands as a wholly independent VR and AR stories festival now available through a platform that requires nothing more than a web browser (supported) mobile device, and ticket to the show. Also avail. on a variety of headsets.

SIGGRAPH 2021

Virtually, USA
Dates: 01.08–05.08.2021
Deadlines: 23.02.2021 — VR Theatre, Immersive Pavillion
Web-site: https://s2021.siggraph.org/

VRHAM!

Hamburg, Germany
Dates: 04.06–12.06.2021
Deadline: 28.02.2021 Competition, VRHAMMY Award, 5,000 € prize
Web-site: https://www.vrham.de/en/

Sheffield Doc/Fest

Sheffield, UK
Dates: 04.06–13.06.2021
Deadlines: 01.03.2021 — Arts Programme, £35+VAT
01.03.2021 — Arts Talent Market £26+VAT
Web-site: https://sheffdocfest.com/

Melbourne International Film Festival

Melbourne, Australia
Dates: 05.08–22.08.2021
Deadlines: 28.02.2021 — February Deadline €59.23
16.03.2021 — March Deadline €67.70
Web-site: https://filmfreeway.com/MelbourneInternationalFilmFestival