Fantastic Fest
Austin, United States · September
About This Festival
The most important genre festival in
North America. Fantastic Fest is where
serious horror, sci-fi, and thriller films
find their most passionate audience.
Industry attention at Fantastic Fest
regularly leads to distribution deals.
What They Want
Fantastic Fest wants films that take genre
seriously — not ironic horror, not
franchise product, but films that use
genre conventions to explore real human
fears and ideas. International genre cinema
is strongly represented.
Submission Details
- Premiere requirement
- US premiere required
- Submission fee
- $30-$50
- Platform
- FilmFreeway
- Accepts
- Features / Shorts / Docs
- Oscar qualifying
- No
- Acceptance rate
- ~4%
Notable Alumni
The Raid, Raw, The Wailing, Tigers Are
Not Afraid
Submission Tips
Fantastic Fest has genuine influence in
the genre space — a strong reception here
can be transformative for a horror or
sci-fi film. The audience is knowledgeable
and passionate. International genre films
do particularly well.
Typical Timeline
Submissions open
April
Early deadline
TBD
Regular deadline
June
Festival
September
Similar Festivals
No close matches yet in the same tier and focus set.