Why Submit?

Your film, in Cannes… and beyond

The Van d’Or Independent Film Awards (Powered by Ford) runs a little differently to your average film festival.

We open submissions in June, giving you a few months to get your film together and submit before August 9th 2013 when submissions close.

After that, your film will be judged by our expert panel featuring key players within the current film industry including actors, directors, producers, writers and a few surprises. Last year we had the award-winning Gurinder Chadha OBE (Bend It Like Beckham, Paris je t’aime) heading our jury along with Samantha Waite, Oscar-nominated producer of “Wish 143”, Mark McQueen, award-winning director of “Devil’s Playground” and “The Only Way is Essex”. The judges for this years awards are yet to be revealed.

Then, when all the films are judged, we will have our results ready for the evening of the Van d’Or Independent Film Awards where all the categories will be announced. The top five nominated films for the ‘Best Film’ will be screened on the night. There are 14 categories to be announced this year and some quality prizes up for grabs.

After the awards things get interesting, all the nominated films for the Van d’Ors will be taken on tour with the Van, where they will be shown at a series of pop-up screenings and events, providing exposure for your film. We’ll publicise the screenings through Facebook and Twitter all the way up until May 2014 when we eventually take our annual trip to Cannes to screen the best independent film talent from around Europe on the Croisette.

Nearly 2000 films are entered into the Short Film Corner at Cannes every year, that’s a lot of films and really quite an over saturated market. With Cannes in a Van, we’ll make your film feel special and exclusive, how many films have you seen screened from the back of a Van in the middle of the biggest, most glamorous film festival in the world? Your film won’t get lost amongst others, it’ll be watched and more importantly, appreciated.

How do I submit?

In 6 simple steps, you can submit your film into this years awards.

1. Read our Terms and Conditions, they will keep everything clear for you with regards to submitting, you can refer back to them or look at our FAQs if you have a problem.

2. Select your submission category, either SHORT, MUSIC BASED or FEATURE. It’s important you do this to give us an indication of what type of film you’re submitting.

3. Select your submission format, either DVD, Link Online (Vimeo preferred) or File Transfer (WeTransfer or similar).

4. Fill out the rest of the form, providing all contact information and other details regarding your film, for example names of the cast and the crew, a synopsis and how it was funded etc.

5. Once the form is filled out, click ‘Submit’ and proceed to payment. You can read our FAQs if you’re unsure why we charge for entries.

6. After payment is complete, your film will be entered into the Van d’Or Independent Film Awards (Powered by Ford). Then all you have to do is wait to hear when we have reviewed your film. You can keep up to date with the process @cannesinavan or find us on Facebook.