Red Rock Film Festival (19)

Festival Start: 24 September 2025      Festival Ende: 27 September 2025

INTRODUCTION
ENTER BY LENGTH FIRST – THEN SELECT CATEGORY.


The Festival considers entries of all genres from shorts to full-length features, and is held in 'Festival City, USA' at the end of the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Southern Utah. Within a 20 min. drive is Kolob Canyon of Zion National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Brian Head Ski Resort, dry desert, sheep herders, ranches, red mountains, green mountains, and UFO sightings. The location is ideal for the vacation-seeking filmmaker. It is an artist's retreat for film, cuisine, parties, and workshops with approachable professional people. This emerging festival is held each Fall in Cedar City.

MISSION & OBJECTIVE
To encourage the production of media in both the independent and professional market that portray the human race in a positive light, and to applaud original works that redefine media through innovation, creativity and sensitivity that both enlightens and educates audiences from around the world.

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
The International Red Rock Film Festival. The Red Rock Film Festival was formed in 2007 in Southern Utah, and quickly became a internationally recognized festival with award-winning judges and rigorous pre-selection process. It made MovieMaker Magazine's list of "Top Festivals Worth the Entry Fee" in both 2009 and 2013.

DEMOCRATIC FILM SELECTION
All films are reviewed by members of our previewing committee and scored in Directing, Screenplay, Acting/Talent, Production Values and Post-Production Values. Local or international, friend or stranger, pretty or plain, famous or not: all films are given equal treatment and go through the same democratic film selection.

DEMOGRAPHIC
The demographic is well educated, consisting mostly of empty-nesters, college students and senior citizens. The festival also aims to find new films for the wise as well as quality films for youth, sports films and films with a message.

GENRE
All genres are considered. Although documentaries have been a predominate focus at the Red Rock Film Festival, festival audience often compliment the variety and diversity of films selected for the festival in Utah. Animation, arts, children, comedy, documentary, drama, experimental, fiction, narrative, romance, sports, student, horror, suspense, mystery, musical, music videos, war themes, women's issues, family, and humanitarian films are all taken into consideration. Cultural diversity is also a highlight at the festival; African, American, Asian, European, Indian, Indigenous, Islander, Latino, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Spiritual, Yogi, and other philosophical, governmental, historical, and artistic cultures are to be explored.

COMPETITION:
All genres are considered including animation, documentary, experimental, fiction, music video and student-made films. The festival has several categories of competition, including unique subcategories of featurette and short-short.
The Program Directors may also select additional categories at their own discretion, depending on how many qualified entries are received.

ALL FILM DESERVES A HOME
It's all about how much we like a film and where we place them. We just want good, original film that showcases our mission. We expect some films would be great to release to the theaters, others for television, some for the classroom, for our film series, or a great premiere. To encourage the independent spirit, Red Rock strives to find a home for all films that qualify in competition. This gives the filmmaker a chance to give their work exposure even if they may not make the festival finals. The festival also hosts a mini-film market, special screenings throughout the year plus we make recommendations to other festivals.

FILM MARKET
The Utah Film Market is a small section from the festival where filmmakers and other industry professionals can view films on their own in the festival library or in special industry screenings given to select finalists and other favorites from the festival.

Audience and Grand Jury Awards may include:

Feature Animation
Feature Documentary
Feature Fiction
Featurettes (30 - 59 minutes)
Short Animation (6 - 59 minutes)
Short Documentary (6 - 29 minutes)
Short Experimental (6 - 29 minutes)
Short Fiction (6 - 29 minutes)
Short-Shorts (1 - 5 minutes)
Music Video
ScreenDance/Fashion Film
Virtual Reality Short Content
Utah Filmmaker Film
Collegiate Student Short

The Festival also hosts Aglet Awards for the best micro-cinema films made for less than a shoe-string budget that have gone through extreme measures to get made.

Past judges have included Academy Award, BAFTA winners and nominees as well as other industry professionals such as
Graeme Clifford (director of "Frances," BAFTA nominated editor of "Don't Look Now", editor of "Rocky Horror Picture Show,")
Steven Okazaki (Oscar® winning director of "Days of Waiting,")
John Zaritsky (Oscar® winning director of "The Fifth Estate: Just Another Missing Kid",)
Thomas Lennon (Oscar® winning director of "The Blood of Yingzhou District”,)
Timothy Reckart (Oscar® nominated director of "Head Over Heels”,)
Siqi Song (Oscar® nominated director of "Sister”,)
Mai Iskander (DGA nominated director of "Garbage Dreams,")
Shaun Dingwall (actor from TV's "Doctor Who" and "Goodbye Christopher Robbins",)
Shaun Dooley (actor from TV's "Gentleman Jack" and "Jamestown",)
Matthew McNulty (actor from "Little Ashes" and TV's "The Musketeers" and "The Terror",)
Gregg Champion (producer of "Blue Thunder," director of "The Cowboy Way,")
Gary Graham (actor from TV's "Alien Nation" and "Star Trek: Enterprise,") and others.

COMPLETION DATES:

All films in the Red Rock Film Festival Competition must be completed after January 1, 2024.

All films that are accepted into the Festival or Market should submit the exhibition copy by September 15, 2025.

All films in the Red Grid category must be completed after January 1, 2021.

All films in the Red Catalog category must be completed after January 1, 2021.

A Work in Progress or a completed scene may be submitted for consideration with the application and submission fee. The final cut for a work in progress should be submitted by the Extended Deadline.

Note: this festival does not give out laurels upon acceptance — they are treated similar to nominees and typically given out later in the festival.

PRIOR SCREENINGS:

Entries in Competition may not have opened theatrically nationwide nor nationally broadcast in any format anywhere in the U.S. before September 28, 2025. Entries may not have been previously submitted into the Red Rock Film Festival or Utah (Red) Film Market without written permission of the Red Rock Film Festival Program Director.

SUBMISSION DEADLINES & ENTRY FEES:

All films in competition and Red Grid category must be submitted online by their respective deadline. Films submitted to the Red Rock Film Festival will also be considered for the Utah (Red) Film Market.

Films submitted to be considered for the Red Catalog Listing do not need to pay the fee, and may enter with the online form on the Festival's website.

All films must be submitted Online via the approved submission platforms such as Festhome.

Students must be registered in a recognized university, college, high school, middle school or elementary school with proof of ID from the institution to qualify for student categories.

Special Screenings and Red Catalog Listings may apply on the festival website's submission form, and are selected by the programmers out-of-competition. Special incentives are also described on the festival website such as entering early.

All entrants will receive one ticket to a screening at the festival.

FESTIVAL AND VIRTUAL SCREENINGS

If in the event of a governmental, sponsor or venue request for cancellation of events affecting the Festival or Market, films will continue to be streamed or available for Festival attendees, ticket and pass holders to view the films online and judging will continue.

ENTRANTS

All Film Festival entrants or submitters must by 18 years of age or older. Those who are not the legal age to enter contracts, must have written permission from their parent or legal guardian.

All Film Market (Red Grid and Red Catalog) entrants or submitters must be 18 years of age or older. The film entrant or submitter concedes they are authorized to exhibit the Film at the Festival and Festival Market, and grant the permissions to the Festival outlined in the rules as well as the right to provide supplied contact information for film industry and patrons in the Festival Market and with discretion to film industry organizations sponsoring the Festival events.

Entrants should be present during the Awards Ceremony to win prizes other than the winning title.

PROGRAMMING CATEGORIES

The program committee reserves the right to place submissions under the category they feel suits the film best, and to add new categories or change the names of the programming categories.

Competition categories may include:

Feature Animation
Feature Documentary
Feature Fiction
Featurettes (30 - 59 minutes)
Short Animation (6 - 59 minutes)
Short Documentary (6 - 29 minutes)
Short Experimental (6 - 29 minutes)
Short Fiction (6 - 29 minutes)
Short-Shorts (1 - 5 minutes)
Music Video
ScreenDance/Fashion Film
Virtual Reality Short Content
Utah Filmmaker Film
Collegiate Student Short

Out-of-Competition categories may include:
Headliners
Special Screenings
Easter Eggs (Featured Artist)

Out-of-Competition Red Grid or Market categories may include:

Industry Screenings
Focus Screenings
Press Screenings

The Red Grid Listing category is for the Industry catalog only and the films are not screened. The Program Director reserves the right to add or delete categories.

RUNNING TIME:

Features must be 60 - 180 minutes in length. Featurettes must be 30 - 59 minutes in length. Shorts must be 6 - 29 minutes in length. "Shorts Shorts" must be 1 - 5.9 minutes in length. Music Videos must be 1 - 29 minutes in length. Running time is calculated from the head frame to the last frame of the end credits.

LANGUAGE:
Festival is open to international cinema. Dialogues that are not in English must be subtitled in English.

PERMISSIONS:
Permission to use stills and excerpts from the submitted film, not to exceed 2 minutes, for promotional purposes (in print, theatrically, broadcast, internet or all other means as well as released to the news media) is considered granted upon submission as well as copying and archiving the entries to DCP, Blu-ray, Hard Disk, or other means for projection for the festival, and for the purpose of previewing and judging which can also be DVD.

Permission is also considered granted upon submission to stream and upload the films for Festival and Market attendees, and for ticket and pass holders.

The filmmaker, entrant and submitter concede they are authorized to use all images, likenesses, music and sounds in their entry, and that the exhibition will not violate or infringe any copyright, privacy right, publicity right, patent, trademark, service mark or any other property or personal right, and does not constitute a defamation of any person or entity nor is the film subject to or threatened by litigation. The filmmaker, entrant and submitter grants permission to the festival to screen the entry at the festival including the festival market, and agrees to hold harmless the Red Rock Film Festival, its sponsors, entities, officers, committee members, attorneys, and advisers from any and all claims, losses, liabilities or attorneys' fees that may be held against any of the foregoing in connection with the Film entry or the Festival's use thereof.

CONTENT:

The festival encourages films that portray the human race in a positive light, and will take films of all sorts into consideration.

ANIMATED SHORTS:

At Least 75% of the film must be animated in order to qualify. Cell, hand-drawn, computer, clay, and puppet animation are all acceptable.

YOUNG FILMMAKERS:

There is no longer a category for young filmmakers. Separate categories outside the Festival may include a competition and films in those Young Filmmaker category must be directed by, edited by, and with sound by and cinematography by young students enrolled in a High School, Middle School, Grammar School or home study equivalent program, during the production of the film.

Do not use music without written and legal permission from the copyright owner to use that music in your film for a festival release.
Separate age sub-categories may be added at the Programming Director's discretion. If the entrant or submitter is younger than 18 years of age or younger than the legal age to enter contracts is his/her state, written consent from his/her parent or legal guardian must be sent to the Festival entry location.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Special Screenings are a selection of headliner features and shorts shown out-of-competition, and without feedback. Films are selected by invitation only.

MARKET

Red Catalog Listing
A film market where filmmakers and other industry professionals can view films held in conjunction with the Red Rock Film Festival. If accepted, the films will be made available in the market with a SIMPLE LISTING in the catalog with minimal information about the film.

Red Grid
A film market where filmmakers and other industry professionals can view films held in conjunction with the Red Rock Film Festival. If accepted, the films will be made available in the market with an extended listing in the market catalog which contains similar information about the film as a competition film. Favorite films from the Competition and Red Grid submissions may be rewarded a Market Screening, or other screenings as selected by the Program Director.

ROUNDS
There are five rounds in the festival: First, Second, Third, Finalist and Official Selection. The Programming Director selects films for the festival from the finalists at his or her discretion based on the highest previewer scores and their notes. Films that make it to at least the Third Round are accepted into the Red Film Market.

JUDGING CRITERIA FOR COMPETITION:

All films are previewed with consideration to the Content and Mission of the Festival, and scored in the following artistic elements: Direction, Screenplay, Acting/Talent, Production Value and Post-Production Values. Entrants may request for previewer notes in writing to help aid in the production in their film: notes are opinions of the previewers and do not, necessarily reflect the opinions of the festival.

The Competition Official Selections are sent to the Grand Jury who score the films in their category on Direction, Screenplay, Acting/Talent, Production Value and Post-Production Values. The highest scoring film is selected as the best film in that category.

Individual elements of film may be selected for competition at the discretion of the Programming Director, Festival Director and suggestion from members of the Grand Jury.

The Grand Jury in their category are also asked to suggest nominations of films for those selected elements such as Acting or Cinematography with 50% or higher becoming a final nomination. The Grand Jury in their category then ranks the final nominations for each selected element with the winner being the highest total ranked nominee.

Members of the Grand Jury are also asked to suggest films in their category for Special Achievements where a suggestion of 50% or higher from the Grand Jury in their category going to a vote with winners for those Special Achievements being three out of three, or a two-thirds vote or higher if there are more than three Grand Jury judges in their category.

The Festival may also use a debate contest tally as it does in the preview process which eliminates either or both the highest or lowest scores in the tally that are out of range of the majority of previewers or judges — this is done to prevent cramming or slamming of scores based on political, artistic or personal beliefs or based on possible acquaintances or personal feelings about a filmmaker.

CHECKS / MONEY ORDERS:

Checks or US money orders are no longer acceptable for the entry fee for the Red Rock Film Festival or Utah (Red) Film Market.

FINANCING:

Entries in Competition may not have been produced, financed or initiated by a MAJOR motion picture studio distribution company.

DISTRIBUTION

Films submitted may be under distribution, but not in nationwide theaters or broadcast nationally in the U.S.

Distributors may also submit their film out of competition in the Special Screening or World and US Premiere categories on the Festival's online submission form at www.redrockfilmfestival.com.

ELECTRONIC PRESS KITS:

Press Kits should be simple, and can be emailed. Photos may be submitted as a jpeg, tif or eps file with the correct aspect ratio. Written files may be a text file or included in the body of the email.

The files must include:

• 3 color still screenshots that represent a SCENE FROM THE FILM.
• 1 headshot of the DIRECTOR.
• Complete credits of the principal cast and production crew.
• Director's Bio: A short bio about the director in 50 - 100 words.
• Synopsis: a short description about the film in 50 - 125 words without revealing crucial or surprise plot elements.
The festival reserves the right to complete any information not supplied by the filmmaker from whatever source available, and will not be responsible if incorrect information is entered.

SUBMISSION FORMAT:

Films may be submitted via a Vimeo link or video link via Festhome or other participating submission site.

EXHIBITION FORMAT: Films should be submitted as a DCP. ProRes or H264 HD files are also needed as a backup. The Festival, at its own choosing, will select either a usable DCP, Digital, ProRes, H264 file, or HD file for projection for films in the festival and market screenings. QuickTime and Digital files must comply to the format requested by the Festival.

SHIPPING:

Submitted Flash Drives or Hard Drives are returned only if the filmmaker has provided the festival with a Prepaid self-addressed envelope. The festival is not responsible for lost, stolen or misdirected mail.

Upon acceptance, exhibition prints must be shipped to the Red Rock Film Festival to the supplied address on the requested format or emailed with a downloadable link if requested by the Festival. The Print Source will be responsible for the cost of the exhibition copy shipment to the festival. The festival handles physical copies with the utmost care and provides postal insurance of loss or damage to a maximum of US $100 (or cost of replacement, whichever is less.) The festival does not provide insurance for originals or masters or to foreign countries.

SELECTION NOTIFICATION:

The competition finalists and other films selected for the Red Rock Film Festival or Market will be notified by email or mail.

Participation in the festival implies understanding and acceptance of all regulations and requirements of the Red Rock Film Festival and the entrant must comply by all submission deadlines of the submission copy, exhibition print, publicity stills, director's photo, director's bio, a completed submission form, as well as all other publicity for the press such as postcards. For more information contact the festival at:
Red Rock Film Festival
Website: www.redrockfilmfestival.com

Terms
The entrants agrees they have read and accepted all rules and regulations of the Red Rock Film Festival. The filmmaker, entrant and submitter concede they are authorized to use all images, likenesses, music and sounds in their entry, and that the exhibition will not violate or infringe any copyright, privacy right, publicity right, patent, trademark, service mark or any other property or personal right, and does not constitute a defamation of any person or entity nor is the film subject to or threatened by litigation. The filmmaker, entrant and submitter grants permission to the festival to screen the entry at the festival including the festival market, and agrees to hold harmless the Red Rock Film Festival, its sponsors, entities, officers, committee members, attorneys, and advisers from any and all claims, losses, liabilities or attorneys' fees that may be held against any of the foregoing in connection with the Film entry or the Festival's use thereof. Permission to use stills and excerpts from the submitted film, not to exceed 2 minutes, for promotional purposes (in print, theatrically, broadcast, internet or all other means as well as released to the news media) is considered granted upon submission as well as copying and archiving the entries to DCP, Blu-ray, DVD, Hard Drive, Tape or other means for projection for the festival, and for the purpose of previewing and judging.