Bad decisions. Great films. The festival where mistakes are the point and beginners are the stars.

SUBMIT YOUR FILM
Deadline
TBA
Festival
OCT 2026
Location
UTRECHT
Entry fee
FREE
About

You don't have to
be good. Yet.

The Foul Film Festival was born from a simple idea: the fear of doing something wrong should never stop you from creating. We celebrate bad cameras, shaky shots, questionable acting, and all the beautiful disasters that come with learning to make films.

1–10'
Film length
FREE
Entry fee
OCT
Utrecht 2026
Open
To beginners
Who can submit

Beginners welcome.
Experts, not so much.

Open to everyone any age, any nationality, any background.
If you study film, you can submit only if you are in your first year.

Rules for the film

The film must follow the premise: the revelation of a terrible secret and its terrifying consequences.
There must be at least one worm somewhere in the film real, fake, drawn, mentioned, whatever works for you.
The film must be PG-13. No graphic violence, nudity, or explicit content.
No violence against animals.
No AI-generated content: films using AI in any significant way will be disqualified.
No vertical framing unless there is a clear, intentional creative reason for it.
Films must be between 1 and 10 minutes long, including credits.
Subtitles required in English only if your film is not in English.
Format: MP4, MOV or AVI max 1GB.
You must own all rights to the submitted material.
Great Mistakes Workshop

Learn filmmaking
through bad movies.

Before the festival, we bring our workshop to schools. We teach teenagers the basics of filmmaking by showing them the rules but also how to break them.

01

What makes a bad movie?

A brainstorming session where students question what "good" and "bad" even mean in cinema.

02

Learning filmmaking

A lesson on the basics of filmmaking, illustrated with clips from great and terrible films alike.

03

Lights, camera, action

Students split into groups and shoot and edit a short film on their phones. Errors are encouraged.

Ages 13–18 10–30 students 2–3 hours Free English or Dutch Utrecht
INVITE US TO YOUR SCHOOL
Great Mistakes logo
GREAT
MISTAKES

Mistakes are not the opposite of good cinema. They are where it begins.

Where: We come to your school in Utrecht
Duration: 2 to 3 hours
Price: Free (donations for transport appreciated)
Language: English or Dutch
Submit

Make something.
Share it with us.

You don't need a great camera. You don't need amazing actors. You don't need a fully developed vision. You just need a film and the courage to share it.

Fill in your details

Tell us who you are and what your film is about.

Upload your film

MP4, MOV or AVI · Max 1GB · 1 to 10 minutes.

Wait for our response

You'll hear from us after the submission deadline.

Join us in Utrecht

Selected films screened live in October 2026.

SUBMIT YOUR FILM

Ready to submit? Click the button below to open our submission form. You'll be asked to fill in your details, tell us about your film, and upload your file.

Duration: 1 to 10 minutes
Format: MP4, MOV or AVI · Max 1GB
SUBMIT MY FILM →

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The Team

The minds
behind it all.

Four film lovers united by a belief that bad movies can teach you as much if not more than good ones.

SARA
Marketing · Workshop Teacher
Completed a programming internship at the Movies That Matter Film Festival, and currently doing marketing and coordination at Cinema The Pulse in Amsterdam. Sara handles the festival's marketing and is one of our workshop teachers.
ARAM
Production · Workshop Teacher · Dutch
Film critic at FilmTotaal since 2021 and Service Manager at Pathé City. Aram helps with production and brings his experience coordinating teams during film events to both the festival and the workshop. He is our Dutch-speaking teacher.
SOFIA
Production · Workshop Teacher · English
Over two years in film production as a Production Assistant, and experience at the Sole Luna Film Festival. Sofia is our English-speaking workshop teacher and your main contact person.
MADARA
Planning · Technical
Has worked in film production for several years and organized multiple events, including the RtD Film Festival. Through this work she has honed her planning and organizational skills. Madara is our planner and technical support.
Credits

Made with
great help.

The Foul Film Festival wouldn't look or feel the same without these people.

Logo Concept
CHIARA ROSAN
The visual identity of The Foul Film Festival was born from Chiara's creative vision. She conceived and designed the concept behind our logo.
Logo Illustration
IRENE SCADUTI
Irene brought the logo to life with her illustration, turning the concept into the distinctive image you see throughout the festival.
@ayrinkk on Instagram ↗
Sponsor
ZIMIHC
A heartfelt thank you to Zimihc for believing in what we're building and supporting the festival with their generous sponsorship.
zimihc.nl ↗