Submissions 2028

Submissions for Oska Bright 2028 will be opening soon

Submission FAQs

Please see below some answers to frequently asked questions about submitting to Oska Bright Film Festival.

Please feel free to email us at oskabright@carousel.org.uk with any further questions.

Submission timeline

When do submissions close?

Submissions close 26th March 2027.

How do I submit?

We accept submissions via Film Freeway. Click the ‘Film Freeway’ banner above which will take you to our festival page. When submitting, you will be asked questions about the format of your film and a bit about yourself. Make sure you read the full list of rules and terms on Film Freeway before submitting.

If you need support filling out an application, email us at oskabright@carousel.org.uk.

When will I hear if my film is accepted?

We will notify you whether your film has been selected in Summer 2027 (date TBC). Oska Bright receives many submissions so selection takes several months.

Eligibility

What is a learning disability?

Click HERE to have a look at Mencap’s helpful explanation of what a learning disability is.

Why does Oska Bright only select films made by or featuring learning disabled or

autistic people?

As the world’s leading festival for films made by or featuring learning disabled and autistic people, it is important we protect our mission to champion these underrepresented filmmakers and people in the industry. Our festival is a space that showcases how representation, inclusion and accessibility practices open doors for everyone to thrive in film, both on and off screen.

This is our commitment to advocating for learning disabled and autistic people to continue to prove they belong in the film industry!

How are films selected?

Films are selected into our festival by our talented learning disabled programming team. They watch and select from hundreds of films submitted. Our programmers value positive representation and diversity, great storytelling and interesting stylisation. All film genres are appreciated and selected.

Music permissions for film

What are music permissions?

Any music that was not made specifically for your film is likely to be copyright protected. This means you must have permission to use it. Having music permission means you have written approval to use the music in your film. This is also known as a music license.

What music permissions do I need for my film?

You need 2 types of music licenses to use copyright protected music in your film:

1. Synchronization License

  • This covers the lyrics and composition of the piece of music.

  • This protects the writer of the piece of music.

  • You get this permission from the music’s publisher.

  • HERE is a helpful place to find the writer and publisher of a piece of music.

2. Master Use License

  • This covers the specific recording of a song.

  • This protects the performer of this song.

  • You get this permission from the record label who represents the artist or directly from the artist if they are independent.

  • You can usually find the record label and artist in the description of a song on streaming platforms like Youtube or Spotify.

In your application for music permission, you should tell them you plan to submit your film to festivals so they know it might be screened publicly.

HERE is a helpful explanation from Ascap about getting music licenses for your film. They explain how to get in contact with publishers and record labels.

Why do I need music licenses?

Music licenses protect artists from having their music used without their permission. If they weren’t protected, they may not get money or recognition for their work.

Submission format

What type of film can I submit?

We showcase short films at Oska Bright film festival.

Short films submitted must be under 25 minutes.

We accept short films from every genre.

We also accept feature films (over 40 minutes). We will programme a limited number of

these at our festival, potentially as an online strand.

What format should I submit my film in?

Submission format: please submit your film as an mp4 file.

Resolution: your film resolution should be 1920 x 1080P

Sound: the sound in your film must be mixed to 6dbs (decibels)

Frame rate: where possible, please use 24FPS (frames per second).

Aspect ration: your film’s aspect ration should be 16:9

Subtitles

Descriptive subtitles describe sounds as well as showing the words that are spoken.

All films screened at Oska Bright need to have descriptive subtitles.

Click here for a downloadable pdf which explains how to create descriptive subtitles for your film.

How do I submit subtitles with my film?

Please submit an SRT file with descriptive subtitles or provide a transcript with your film entry.

Oska Bright tour

What is ‘Oska Bright Presents’?

‘Oska Bright Presents’ is the name of our tour programme. We aim to spotlight films from our most recent festival in as many other film festivals as possible before our next festival. We tour our festival because we want to centre learning disabled and autistic filmmaking in all areas of the industry. These films are meant to be seen by everyone!

Will my film be in the Oska Bright tour?

If selected for our film festival, your film may feature in our touring package. This is an amazing opportunity for your film to be seen by wider audiences. We cannot confirm which films our tour partners will take. You have the opportunity to tell us if you do not want your film to be toured when you submit to our festival in Film Freeway. This is okay and will not affect our selection process for our festival.

What is the ‘Be In! Network of Accessible Film Festivals’?

Be In is a European network of festivals and cultural agents working to ensure equitable access to audiovisual culture. Have a look at their website here. Oska Bright is part of this network as part of our mission to champion and share the joy of learning disabled and autistic filmmaking.