British Urban Film Festival

24 - 31 Oct, 2020

British Urban Film Festival logo
British Urban Film Festival

Is this your festival?

Is this your festival?

About the festival

Why does BUFF exist?

We want to change the face of British film. We want it to reflect all of us, not just some of us. That’s why we're delighted to announce our new round of submissions for the 2020 British Urban Film Festival.

We have made great strides in the right direction since our launch 15 years ago in 2005. There's no reason why that shouldn't continue over the next 15 years. Across the film & TV industry, Britain’s filmmakers are much less diverse than Britain itself. And that can sometimes mean it’s much more of an effort to make films and TV programmes diverse, because they have to make an effort. This, in turn, is understandable.

Why I should submit to the best film festival in the U.K for diverse programming?

Founded by Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe MBE, the British Urban Film Festival, has been a pioneering platform for all facets of global diversity since its inception in 2005.

Long before diversity quotas and terminology such as BAME and cis, we have always welcomed, showcased, given coverage to and awarded films which display diverse stories and by filmmakers from diverse backgrounds adhering to the 9 diversity strands:
age
disability
gender reassignment
marriage and civil partnership
pregnancy and maternity
race
religion or belief
sex.

We are now in our 15th year and want to give clarity to our reclaiming of the word “urban”. For so long, urban has been looked at as an extension of “black”, “underground”, “other” “unworthy”. We know that in every walk of life, urban culture is now more than ever revered as BOLD. UNMISTAKABLE. FRESH and a FRONTIER.

Don't delay, enter today and be in with a chance of making the elite line-up of official selections at this year's British Urban Film Festival.

IF YOUR SUBMISSION GETS SELECTED…

Only shortlisted submissions will receive further emails or phone calls from the BUFF board after the final submission deadline passes. Correspondence will commence from 7 September 2020 onwards.

MP4's, DVD masters, 30″ x 40″ quad posters and DCP’s will be requested if submissions make the shortlist.

All shortlisted films will be eligible to win a British Urban Film Festival short film/feature film award in 2020.

All shortlisted films will be considered for theatrical distribution in sole conjunction with BUFF Originals.

SUCCESSFUL SCRIPTS:

All scripts selected will be issued with a 2 year licensing deal to commit AAA Film and TV as a producer of the script if it gets produced.

The final shortlist of 3 scripts will be eligible to receive a British Urban Film Festival award in 2020.

About

Why does BUFF exist?

We want to change the face of British film. We want it to reflect all of us, not just some of us. That’s why we're delighted to announce our new round of submissions for the 2020 British Urban Film Festival.

We have made great strides in the right direction since our launch 15 years ago in 2005. There's no reason why that shouldn't continue over the next 15 years. Across the film & TV industry, Britain’s filmmakers are much less diverse than Britain itself. And that can sometimes mean it’s much more of an effort to make films and TV programmes diverse, because they have to make an effort. This, in turn, is understandable.

Why I should submit to the best film festival in the U.K for diverse programming?

Founded by Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe MBE, the British Urban Film Festival, has been a pioneering platform for all facets of global diversity since its inception in 2005.

Long before diversity quotas and terminology such as BAME and cis, we have always welcomed, showcased, given coverage to and awarded films which display diverse stories and by filmmakers from diverse backgrounds adhering to the 9 diversity strands:
age
disability
gender reassignment
marriage and civil partnership
pregnancy and maternity
race
religion or belief
sex.

We are now in our 15th year and want to give clarity to our reclaiming of the word “urban”. For so long, urban has been looked at as an extension of “black”, “underground”, “other” “unworthy”. We know that in every walk of life, urban culture is now more than ever revered as BOLD. UNMISTAKABLE. FRESH and a FRONTIER.

Don't delay, enter today and be in with a chance of making the elite line-up of official selections at this year's British Urban Film Festival.

IF YOUR SUBMISSION GETS SELECTED…

Only shortlisted submissions will receive further emails or phone calls from the BUFF board after the final submission deadline passes. Correspondence will commence from 7 September 2020 onwards.

MP4's, DVD masters, 30″ x 40″ quad posters and DCP’s will be requested if submissions make the shortlist.

All shortlisted films will be eligible to win a British Urban Film Festival short film/feature film award in 2020.

All shortlisted films will be considered for theatrical distribution in sole conjunction with BUFF Originals.

SUCCESSFUL SCRIPTS:

All scripts selected will be issued with a 2 year licensing deal to commit AAA Film and TV as a producer of the script if it gets produced.

The final shortlist of 3 scripts will be eligible to receive a British Urban Film Festival award in 2020.

Awards & Winners

There are no winners yet for this festival

Terms and rules


Scripts: must be no less than 20 pages and no more than 90.

Drama/Documentary Films: must be no less than 40 minutes and no more than 120.

Short Films must be no less than 3 minutes and no more than 60.

All Music, Spoken Word, Dance & Moving Image videos must be no less than 3 minutes

The festival operates a no waiver policy.

We're particularly keen for submissions which touch on the following:

Cities and towns that are generally overpopulated
Urban street wear and fashion
Urban street food and/ or homegrown agriculture
Urban legends – local heroes and heroines
Environmentalists and urbanites – climate change, plastic landfill in oceans etc
Urban music videos with cinematic storytelling / narrative
Advertorial campaigns combining onscreen and offscreen diversity
Romantic dramas that take place in inner cities and towns
Comedies that expose the flaws in our hierarchal structures – satire, politics, bourgeois, banking
Science fiction that gives hope/ tools/ insight to the next generation – can include cosmic stories (astrology, numerology, crystal healing, spirit animals, supernatural)
Sports – open to all genre but particularly interested in unique sports such as capoeira, free walling, mma, youth boxing
Female-identifying feature film directors and DOP’s.

Ratings & Reviews

Categories and fees

Feature films
Early Bird (15th September, 2019) $3,495
Regular (29th June, 2020) $4,495
Late (7th September, 2020) $3,495

Please submit your films, music video, adverts and scripts that explore: Cities and towns that are generally overpopulated Urban street wear and fashion Urban street food and/ or homegrown agriculture Urban legends – local heroes and heroines Environmentalists and urbanites – climate change, plastic landfill in oceans etc Urban music videos with cinematic storytelling / narrative Advertorial campaigns combining onscreen and offscreen diversity Romantic dramas that take place in inner cities and towns Comedies that expose the flaws in our hierarchal structures – satire, politics, bourgeois, banking Science fiction that gives hope/ tools/ insight to the next generation – can include cosmic stories (astrology, numerology, crystal healing, spirit animals, supernatural) Sports – open to all genre but particularly interested in unique sports such as capoeira, free walling, mma, youth boxing We accept docs/drama series and pilots that are no longer than 60 minutes.

Short films
Early Bird (15th September, 2019) $3,495
Regular (29th June, 2020) $4,495
Late (7th September, 2020) $3,495

Please submit your films, music video, adverts and scripts that explore: Cities and towns that are generally overpopulated Urban street wear and fashion Urban street food and/ or homegrown agriculture Urban legends – local heroes and heroines Environmentalists and urbanites – climate change, plastic landfill in oceans etc Urban music videos with cinematic storytelling / narrative Advertorial campaigns combining onscreen and offscreen diversity Romantic dramas that take place in inner cities and towns Comedies that expose the flaws in our hierarchal structures – satire, politics, bourgeois, banking Science fiction that gives hope/ tools/ insight to the next generation – can include cosmic stories (astrology, numerology, crystal healing, spirit animals, supernatural) Sports – open to all genre but particularly interested in unique sports such as capoeira, free walling, mma, youth boxing We accept docs/drama series and pilots that are no longer than 60 minutes.

Music Videos
Early Bird (15th September, 2019) $3,495
Regular (29th June, 2020) $4,495
Late (7th September, 2020) $3,495

Please submit your films, music video, adverts and scripts that explore: Cities and towns that are generally overpopulated Urban street wear and fashion Urban street food and/ or homegrown agriculture Urban legends – local heroes and heroines Environmentalists and urbanites – climate change, plastic landfill in oceans etc Urban music videos with cinematic storytelling / narrative Advertorial campaigns combining onscreen and offscreen diversity Romantic dramas that take place in inner cities and towns Comedies that expose the flaws in our hierarchal structures – satire, politics, bourgeois, banking Science fiction that gives hope/ tools/ insight to the next generation – can include cosmic stories (astrology, numerology, crystal healing, spirit animals, supernatural) Sports – open to all genre but particularly interested in unique sports such as capoeira, free walling, mma, youth boxing We accept docs/drama series and pilots that are no longer than 60 minutes.

Scripts
Early Bird (15th September, 2019) $3,495
Regular (29th June, 2020) $4,495
Late (7th September, 2020) $3,495

Please submit your films, music video, adverts and scripts that explore: Cities and towns that are generally overpopulated Urban street wear and fashion Urban street food and/ or homegrown agriculture Urban legends – local heroes and heroines Environmentalists and urbanites – climate change, plastic landfill in oceans etc Urban music videos with cinematic storytelling / narrative Advertorial campaigns combining onscreen and offscreen diversity Romantic dramas that take place in inner cities and towns Comedies that expose the flaws in our hierarchal structures – satire, politics, bourgeois, banking Science fiction that gives hope/ tools/ insight to the next generation – can include cosmic stories (astrology, numerology, crystal healing, spirit animals, supernatural) Sports – open to all genre but particularly interested in unique sports such as capoeira, free walling, mma, youth boxing We accept docs/drama series and pilots that are no longer than 60 minutes.

Web episode
Early Bird (15th September, 2019) $3,495
Regular (29th June, 2020) $4,495
Late (7th September, 2020) $3,495

Please submit your films, music video, adverts and scripts that explore: Cities and towns that are generally overpopulated Urban street wear and fashion Urban street food and/ or homegrown agriculture Urban legends – local heroes and heroines Environmentalists and urbanites – climate change, plastic landfill in oceans etc Urban music videos with cinematic storytelling / narrative Advertorial campaigns combining onscreen and offscreen diversity Romantic dramas that take place in inner cities and towns Comedies that expose the flaws in our hierarchal structures – satire, politics, bourgeois, banking Science fiction that gives hope/ tools/ insight to the next generation – can include cosmic stories (astrology, numerology, crystal healing, spirit animals, supernatural) Sports – open to all genre but particularly interested in unique sports such as capoeira, free walling, mma, youth boxing We accept docs/drama series and pilots that are no longer than 60 minutes.

Matchmaking

What is the title of your film?

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Choose a film to find matches for

Choose one of your film that you're already created, or create a new one to find matches for.

How long is your film?

Tell us your film’s duration

min.

What type of category does your film fall into?

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What is the genre of your film?

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What should be the main focus of your festival strategy?

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Monetary award

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Festival qualifications that you're interested in

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How much money would you spend on festival submissions?

Define us your submission budget

EUR

Start date of submission

Please enter a date when you plan to start submitting your film to festivals