An IMDb Qualifying Festival

From the creators of the Depth of Field International Film Festival, Docs Without Borders Film Festival, and the WRPN.tv Women’s International Film Festival (among a few other successful festivals) and under the umbrella of the WRPN.tv Network, we bring you the LGBTQ Unbordered International Film Festival (LGBTQ-U)

VERY IMPORTANT: All written material, i.e., screenplays, stage plays, poems, and novels, must be submitted to their respective category. DO NOT submit any written material to categories reserved for film/video, i.e., drama, Art-house, etc. doing so will get your submission rejected.
DO NOT submit film/video to screenplay or any written medium category, as it will also be rejected.
We hire professional readers/judges for all written materials, and they will not review videos.
We hire professional reviewers for videos, and they will not review written material.

Major reasons that make LGBTQ-U different from other festivals:

With us, rejected films have access to Feedback: the one element most festivals ignore.

Instead of paying submission fees and getting nothing in return, EVERYONE who submits to LGBTQ-U will receive EITHER OF TWO benefits: Either 1): your film is already competition caliber and becomes an Official Selection, OR 2): you’ll receive a letter outlining exactly what is keeping it from being accepted. If you can make corrections, you resubmit for FREE.

First-time filmmakers: when have you ever received a letter and had the festival explain WHY your film was rejected? Much less let you resubmit for FREE, even the following season (In case you did not have enough time to fix it)

Top-winning films at our other successful festivals have already received distribution through our exclusive distributor relationships.

- Guaranteed distributor review by Adler & Associates for features and shorts, Cardinal XD Distribution, CSS Releasing PLUS Polaris Pictures (for Screenplays), among others that visit our online network, WRPN.tv, every so often.
All for selected: Best of Festival winners in the Major categories, based on sufficient qualified entries.

SCREENPLAY WINNERS

* RHODIUM gets scripts submitted to Polaris Pictures, a film finance company. Permanent placement on the WRPN.tv Winners' Wall.
* PLATINUM AND GOLD Permanent placement on the WRPN.tv Winners' Wall.
* SILVER, BRONZE, and HONORABLE MENTION Laurel

We have no say or control over whether Polaris Pictures or any of our affiliated distributors choose to approach you about a production deal or even reply to your email. We hold open the door for the very best.

- Other festivals claim to invite distributors to a venue: We Deliver Them To You Directly, guaranteed.

- A festival that runs as a live and web-based competition.

- We live-screen only the Best of Festival winners.
Our live screening event is to collect audience reactions to be used by our distributors. We don't conduct after-screening networking parties or seminars.
Video interviews of the viewing audience may be conducted and shown on WRPN.tv

- LBGTQ-U, with WRPN.TV Entertainment Network will also offer a unique opportunity to show your film to a worldwide community of video fans from over 80 countries, which filmmakers would not usually have access to as an optional online video exposure opportunity. This feature is available for "Best of Festival," “Best Of Show,” “Outstanding Excellence,” “Excellence,” and even some “Exceptional Merit” winners.

Winning an award in a subcategory does not qualify for screening and sending to our distributors.

- We give any film NOT accepted a complimentary synopsis of the judge’s notes, at the filmmakers' request, for free

-Opportunities for Sub-Category Awards include cinematography, score, original concept, direction, SFX, acting, writing, editing, and many more! Winning an award in a subcategory does NOT qualify for screening and sending to our distributors.

- FREE Early bird entry of any rejected film, into LBGTQ-U’s next competition upon completion of the suggested corrections outlined in your rejection letter

- $35 flat fee for ALL STUDENT FILM ENTRIES regardless of deadline status (proof required of student status at the time of filming: no refunds if your ID is not legitimate)

Unique Category distinctions:
“Dust Collector” category for pre-2009 films
“Tight Shorts” and “Loose Shorts” distinction between running times of less than 15 minutes and those between 15-59 minutes
“Horror” and “Sci-Fi” are separated into two distinct categories.

- Finally, our founders are registered Committee Members of the Universal Film & Festival Organization (UFFO.ORG). The UFFO is a nonprofit operating out of the U.K. to promote the best business practices for film festivals. This guarantees that your film will enjoy a fair and thorough judging process.
Also active member of the Film Festival Alliance.

Awards & Prizes


LGBTQ-U, in cooperation with our distribution colleagues, is proud to offer guaranteed
distributor review to the Best of Festival winners in the Major categories*:

"Best of Festival Award: Presented to an outstanding entry from among the Best of Show Winners."

"Best of Show" is selected by genre, category, and domestic/foreign, so there will be over one BOS, i.e., BOS Documentary (Domestic), BOS Documentary (Foreign), and so on.
* (Please note: If there is insufficient competition within any category, LGBTQ-U reserves the right to withdraw a "Best of" presentation in that category.)
Other award levels include:
“Outstanding Excellence,”
" Excellence,"
" Exceptional Merit,"
"Jury's Choice Award,"
" Merit,"
"Kudos"

SCREENPLAY WINNERS

* RHODIUM gets scripts submitted to Polaris Pictures, a film finance company. Permanent placement on the WRPN.tv Winners' Wall.
* PLATINUM AND GOLD Permanent placement on the WRPN.tv Winners' Wall.
* SILVER, BRONZE, and HONORABLE MENTION Laurel

Rules & Terms

When you get an official selection notification, it means your film, screenplay, or novel passed through the stringent acceptance process (By the selection judges), and now it’s ready to go in front of the awarding judges. It doesn’t mean your film will be screened. Once you receive an award notification, Best Of Festival winners will be invited to screen at our live screening event and WRPN.tv (optional)

LGBTQ-Unbordered is granted the right to use an excerpt from any film submitted and accepted for competition at the Festival for promotional purposes.
A clip of winning entries may also be streamed on the LGBTQ-U website and WRPN.TV.
The number of awards granted at any level will fluctuate based on the total number of entries received for each competition deadline. Just as entering major categories does not ensure selection or award, entering sub-categories also does not ensure selection or award; Filmmakers who enter sub-categories only (without entering a major category) may be rejected if the judges do not feel the submitted sub-category is of merit, even if the film itself is of merit and could have been award-worthy. Conversely, films may also receive awards for sub-categories written by the judges, even if the filmmaker did not submit to them.

Also, your film name will appear in the Official Selection list only if you have submitted the entire film into one of the 20 Major (full-price) Categories (films submitted for judging in reduced-rate, production value sub-categories only will not be listed).

The individual or corporation submitting the film warrants that it is authorized to commit the film for screening and understands and accepts these requirements and regulations.

The Competition reserves the right to refuse entries, and there are no waivers.
DVDs WILL NOT BE RETURNED!

REFUNDS POLICY: In the event you withdraw your submission before being Officially Selected, you will receive a refund.
If you withdraw AFTER being Officially Selected, there will be NO refunds.
All our judges (selection and awarding) are paid. We don’t use unpaid volunteers.

We screen only the Best of Festival winners.
Our screening event is to collect audience reactions to be used by our distributors. We don't conduct after-screening networking parties or seminars.
Video interviews of the viewing audience may be conducted and shown on WRPN.tv

Submissions other than English must be subtitled or dubbed,

LGBTQ-U reserves the right to withdraw a "Best Of" presentation if there is insufficient competition within any category.

To ensure that each film and screenplay is studied and rated individually, we instituted a system to ensure that entries do not compete against each other but are recognized for their merits. They compete against themselves: we judge each entry on individual merits and score on an inherent value system. We want to ensure that the judges’ focus is on you when it is your turn to be tested, not on all the other films that are on cue: this ensures that they will not have comparisons going on in their minds when they should focus entirely on YOU.

Judges score on a performance scale, and winning entries are recognized and awarded not only for the Best of Festival and Best of Show but also for two Awards of Excellence levels, two Awards of Merit levels, a Kudos Endeavor Award, or no award.
Best of Festival and Best of Show honors are granted to the top scoring entry/entries for each season; Awards of Excellence are granted to entries with exceptional artistic and technical achievements, and notable achievements are recognized at the Award of Merit and 'Kudos' award levels.

The undersigned shall indemnify and hold harmless LGBTQ Unbordered International Film Festival, WRPN.TV, and ROMAN PICTURES against all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney's fees and costs of the court) which may be incurred by any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss of or damage to the screening videos entered.
74 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Waide Riddle

    Thank you so much for honoring my novel "Meet Me At Third And Fairfax!" and my memoir, "The Little Boy In The Little Red Dress." Both were a joy to write and I'm so grateful that both have impacted so many readers. Because of your social media praising "Meet Me At Third And Fairfax!" and "The Little Boy In The Little Red Dress," they are now available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. That's awesome! Thank you!

    March 2024
    Helpful
  • Fermin Tangüis Figueroa

    Thanks for the opportunity to participate in the festival and for the "Merit" award given to my documentary "The Art of Freedom". It has been a great honor.

    January 2024
    Helpful
  • Soraya Vargas

    Thank you for choosing my film LES BARBARES, happy to be selected for your Festival!!

    January 2024
    Helpful
  • Richard Morell

    Thank you for providing a helpful experience with your festival. I will definitely submit again.

    January 2024
    Helpful
  • FNU Eris

    It was honor to be involved and receive a merit award through this festival. They were solid communicators and very polite.

    January 2024
    Helpful