Information for Filmmakers
The 2025 Festival in Wolfsburg
Underdog Film Festival is an annual competitive festival dedicated to the often unheard voices in motion pictures. Launched in 2023, it is now entering its fourth year running and submissions for the 2026 competition will open 1st September 2025.
Our first three event were great learning experiences and we are very grateful for all the conversations we have had with audience and filmmakers alike. For our next edition, we have made some additional adjustments based on said conversations. These include a number of short sections as well as the introduction of the children's film section ... and in order to ensure people can both enjoy the films and take part in our workshop programme, we will only be screening films on one day.
If you have any questions, however, do not hesitate to reach out to us!
How we roll
COMPETITIONS
For our 4th year running we have re-organised some of the sections and added the children's film section. However, as we are aiming to provide a platform for those who often fund their own projects or have limited funding available to them, we are looking to attract submissions from micro budget film productions. All films must stick to a maximum length of 20 min incl. opening and closing titles. The following awards will be part of our 2026 line-up:
• International Shorts (Short form fiction as well as documentaries that follow a narrative structure, no experimental films please)
• German Shorts (German language short form fiction as well as documentaries that follow a narrative structure, no experimental films please)
• Kid's Corner (Short films for children)
• Underdocs (Short Docs)
In addition to the section awards, there are the following awards categories:
• Best Actor in a Leading or Supporting Role
• Best Director
• Best Cinematography
SCHEDULE
We will be operating over the course of othe entire day. But we are still working on the programme, so just check back with us every now and then. We will be screening the films all day and the awards ceremony will take place in the evening before a chill vinyl session. Everything else will be published as soon as we have finalised the lot.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Of course, 2026 will also include a number of special events for film buffs, ink lovers and those who simply love good company. And all these will be published in good time as well, so bear with us.
Workshops will also take place around the time of festival. You can find more information on our programme page.
RULES & TERMS
... we can only accept submissions via Filmfreeway ...
1- In order to submit a film, you must own the rights or have power of attorney from the owner.
2- All fees are non-refundable.
3- The Festival relationship will exclusively be related to the film submitter.
4- Maximum length allowed for shorts is 20 minutes. This does include opening and closing titles.
5- Any foreign film that is not in German or English must have English subtitles. All German films will need to have English subtitles.
6- UNDERDOG FILM FESTIVAL and its affiliates will not be responsible for damaged copies.
7- We do require your SRT files, if your film is selected, as we will be creating German subs for all non-German films.
8- A screening copy will be requested for the live Events. H.264 is fine, as long as it is no smaller than HD.
9- Students must present a valid Student ID in order to receive our student waiver.
10- Not all the submissions are selected for the Official Competition.
11- UNDERDOG FILM FESTIVAL can consider any film to be disqualified if the festival considers the content inappropriate or if the film exceeds the allowed maximum length.
12- Filmmakers must submit their project in any of the Official Competitions. All films submitted in any OFFICIAL COMPETITION will be considered in all Technical & Performance Categories with no extra cost.
13- A fee is required for the official Competitions Submission. For our payment structure visit FILMFREEWAY.COM
14- Submitting your film, you authorize UNDERDOG FILM FESTIVAL to use, distribute and share the film poster, trailer, synopsis and movie stills in our social media.
15- The applicants (submitters) must accept UNDERDOG FILM FESTIVAL’s Rules and Terms.