OPEN CALL FOR 2025 FESTIVAL SUBMISSION

You can download the Official Guidelines here: VAFF 2025 Open Call Guidelines.

Juried Awards

Our juried awards offer excellent opportunities to build your film career. Awards we presented last year:

Shorts

• Best Canadian Short
• Best Director for Canadian Short
• Best Cinematography for Canadian Short
• Best Animation for Canadian Short

Features

• Best Canadian Feature
• Best Director for Canadian Feature
• Best Cinematography for Canadian Feature
• Best Editing for Canadian Feature

Documentary

• Best Canadian Doc. Short
• Best Director for Canadian Doc. Short
• Best Cinematography for Canadian Doc. Short

All Shorts

• SHER VANCOUVER  Best 2SLGBTQ+ Award for Short
• Best International Short Award

Audience ‘People’s Choice’ Awards

• Overall Performance for Short Film Award
• Overall Performance for Feature Film Award
• Overall Short Film Award
• Overall Feature Film Award

VAFF is an IMDB eligible film festival. This means that all selections and awards can be added to your IMDB film listing.

We have a minimum prize fund of $6,500 CAD for:

• $5,000 CAD for the category of Canadian Features awards
• $1,500 CAD for the category of Canadian Shorts awards

We will continue to update our prize fund as we move closer to the festival.

See the VAFF 2025 Open Call Guidelines for more details.

Open Call Period: February 15, 2025 – May 22, 2025  (11:59 PM PST)

• Early Bird Deadline: March 15, 2025
• Regular Deadline: April 15, 2025
• Last Chance Deadline: May 22, 2025

Open call submissions received after the Open Call Period will not be considered for the 2025 festival.
NO EXCEPTIONS.

VAFF accepts:

• Independently produced films and videos by Asian North American artists (including Asian-Canadian or Asian-American artists), or
• Films or videos produced in East Asia (including People’s Republic of China [incl. Hong Kong], Macao, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Taiwan), Southeast Asia (including Myanmar [Burma], Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Timor-Leste) South Asia (including Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh), or West Asian-Canadian (permanent resident or citizen of Canada only) (including Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen) in English or with English subtitles.
• Films or videos produced must have at least one member of the creative team (director, writer, producer/production company or cinematographer) and at least one of the lead actors/subjects (if Documentary) self-identify as being of Asian or part-Asian heritage.
• Please specify how your submission meets our eligibility criteria above, in your submission notes/cover letter.
• If the country you are submitting from currently has a banking embargo, we recommend that you find friends/filmmakers in other countries to assist your payment/submission. No waivers will be offered. Requests for waivers will not be accepted, so please do not send any.
• Current VAFF Board, Executive, and Committee members are not eligible to submit work in which they are key members of the cast and crew. Works involving key VAFF members will be eligible for consideration for Open Call Submission 12 months after departing from VAFF.
• Films that were part of or screened at VAFF’s own Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon (MAMM) Gala will not be considered in the Open Call process.
• Important note: In the initial submission phase DCP will not be acceptable.  However, if the feature film is chosen for screening, filmmakers will later be given the option of sending in the DCP for that purpose.

Completion date requirements:

• Films and videos must have been completed after May 31st, 2023. Submissions completed prior to this date will not be considered. Films that have been previously submitted will not qualify for submission.
  
• Films that have been self-distributed online, across all and any media platforms, are ineligible.

Exhibition Formats:

• Acceptable exhibition formats are as follows:
  • Feature Films – Digital exhibition formats H.264 (.MOV or .MP4) /ProRes/ DNxHD files; in HD resolution (1080p or 2K) at 23.98 frame rate. Audio in 5.1 surround (and or Stereo if that is the only available mix). If possible, a BluRay disc for backup.
  • Short Films – Digital exhibition formats H.264 (.MOV or .MP4) /ProRes/ DNxHD files; in HD resolution (1080p or 2K) at 23.98 frame rate. No DCP Audio in 5.1 surround (and or Stereo if that is the only available mix). If possible, a BluRay disc for backup.
  • Other exhibition formats, e.g. 16mm, DVD, HDCam, Digibeta, VHS cannot be considered.

Right to use:

• All entries, selected for the Festival, grant VAFF the rights to use footage, stills, titles and information as we deem appropriate for publicity and promotional purposes.
• This requires:
  The applicant must hold the necessary rights for the submission and exhibition of this work. The applicant agrees that if his/her title is selected, that any material including photographs and/or video submitted to VAFF may be used by the festival or a third party authorized by the festival for the purpose of promoting the festival (online, in print and media).

Film Categories

Accepted film categories (submissions outside these categories will not be considered):

• Narrative Feature (any genre)
• Narrative Short (any genre)
• Documentary Feature
• Documentary Short
• Animation Feature and Shorts
• Web Shorts – Single Episodes Only (no less than 10 minutes – except for commercial videos and ads, music videos, previously broadcast television, and trailers)

See the VAFF 2025 Open Call Guidelines for more details.

Submissions can be made through FilmFreeway.

Preview Screeners: Digital Files

• Preview Screener Links are accepted for feature length (longer than 40 min TRT) and shorts (up to 40 min TRT).
• For FilmFreeway, you have the option of submitting a secure screener link or uploading directly online.

Marketing Materials:

All of the below marketing and press materials must be at your filmfreeway as part of the submission process. 

The EPK should contain:

• A 100-word film synopsis and logline;
• Film stills for program guide and publicity:
  • No text on image
  • CMYK
  • JPG format
  • 3–4 MB
  • 4:3 aspect ratio in both
    • high resolution version: 300 dpi 
    • digital resolution: 150 dpi
  • Photo credit
• Film poster (if available)
  • high resolution version: 300 dpi 
  • digital resolution: 150 dpi
• An above-the-line cast and crew list
• About the Director(s)
  • Biography – max. 80 words
  • Headshot(s)
    • No text on image
    • CMYK
    • JPG format
    • 3–4 MB
    • high resolution version: 300 dpi 
    • digital resolution: 150 dpi
    • Photo credit
• Press/publicity clippings 
• A list of awards and screenings date (if available)
• Official website URL (if available)
• Social Media URL/handles
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
• Film Trailer
  • MP4 format
  • length: min. 30 sec; max. 1 min
  • A copy that can be download
  • A copy at the YouTube with public link (preferable)

Note: All marketing and press materials MUST be included with your filmfreeway submission. DEADLINE: MAY 22, 2025.  If any of these items are not included, your submission will be disqualified and there will be NO REFUND of entry fee. Please read the requirements carefully.