About Our Festival
Established by BanterFlix in 2020 the Dark Hedges Film Festival is dedicated to screening horror/fantasy and Sci-Fi films made by filmmakers from around the world.
Originally conceived in 2018 as a short film festival purely for Irish filmmakers, after two successful programmes the decision was made to evolve into a fully-fledged festival with an international outlook.
Whilst still committed to our short film programme, The Dark Hedges Film Festival will screen a mix of genre movies old and new and hopes to bring special guests working within the industry here to Belfast.
2020 Dates
Our inaugural festival will take place in October 2020. Specific dates will be announced in due time.
Venues
Screenings will take place in several venues across Belfast
The Queen’s Film Theatre or QFT is a small independent cinema at Queen’s University Belfast, 
Odeon Belfast is an eight-screen cinema situated in the Victoria Square Shopping Centre in the centre of Belfast. 
The Strand Cinema is an independent four-screen cinema in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is one of the two remaining independent cinemas in Belfast, alongside the Queen’s Film Theatre. It is located on the Holywood Road. 
he Beanbag Cinema is a small, intimate venue snuggled in the heart of Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter.
Short Film Programme
Our short film programme will remain a key aspect of our new festival, we will continue to provide a platform for Irish filmmakers to screen their horror/Sci-Fi/fantasy shorts to audiences here in Belfast, but for the first time we will also open up our Short film programme to international entries.
Therefore we plan to have two separate showcases, an Irish filmmaker showcase (See Eligibility) and an International short film showcase (open to non-Irish entries).
Rules
• Shorts runtime must be under 20 minutes in length (including credits)
• Completed within 18 months of our festival’s date
• Any shorts submitted within the Irish short film strand must be made in Ireland- or made by an Irish writer/director (i.e. shot in England, but writer or director or Lead actors are Irish/NI citizens)
• Be submitted online (Via Filmfreeway)
• Be Available for competition screening in, DCP or HD Quicktime format
Awards & Prizes
• Audience Choice Award [International/Irish] (Voted for on the night)
• Grand Jury Prize [International/Irish] (Voted for by the Festival‘s Jury)
• First Time Filmmaker Award [International/Irish] (Voted for by the Festival’s Jury)
* Any shorts made by a first-time filmmaker that enter into our final shortlist will automatically be considered for this award.
Terms & Conditions
We strongly recommend all filmmakers thoroughly read our festival’s terms and conditions before submitting their work.
Submit your Work
We only accept entries via FilmFreeway, this year’s deadline is Monday 31st August 2020.
Finalists will be notified by the middle of September if their features/shorts will be screened within this year’s programme. Due to a large number of submissions, we do not offer individual feedback on shorts that have not been selected.
