What is Lift-Off Online?

What is Lift-Off

Rejecting talented people sucks. There are plenty of great films we simply cannot accommodate at our global live screenings. Supporting the emerging indie community has always been our number one mission, and we have always felt it a shame not to represent these films as best we can.

So we decided to run an online festival that runs in tandem with every live Lift-Off Festival, to give deserving work a second chance. It has proven to be a great alternative route for well-supported work and always brings a large audience to these brilliant indie films, maximising their opportunities with the network.

How Do I Take Part?

If you have submitted to a Lift-Off Film Festival you will automatically be considered for the online festival. If your work reaches a certain standard but does not quite make the selection for the live screenings you will be invited via email after the decision deadline for the respective festival. It is then up to you if you would like to take part or not.

Films will appear securely online on Vimeo On Demand for a period of one month. Don't worry - this doesn't count as a release, shouldn't exclude you from other competitions and your film will be protected. Please check the screening requirements for other competitions you are hoping to feature in before deciding to take part.

Two Round Judging System

Round 1 - Crowd Round
Invited films are published in a VOD collection. This leg of the festival runs for one month. Both audience choice finalists AND jury selected finalists from each programme are migrated to the Network Round.

Round 2 - Network Round

The shortlisted finalists from the first round are hosted on the Lift-Off Network Hub for a further week. The films are reviewed by our extensive feedback process - the same process at our live festivals. Voting is carried out by Lift-Off Members and our official Lift-Off judging panel.