International Drone Film Festival Accepting Submissions

Joseph Flynt
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FRiFF is hosting their third annual film festival in San Francisco. FRiFF stands for the Flying Robot international Film Festival and it is a competition to find the best drone footage from around the world.

FRiFF was started in 2015 by aerial filmmaker Eddie Codel, no stranger to capturing beautiful drone footage. In 2013, he filmed a video on Burning Man that received a few million views. He was inspired by all of the amazing drone footage he saw and wanted to create a festival to celebrate the best creators. FRiFF is the first global film festival to have been created.

The deadline for submissions was extended until next week. The new deadline for applicants to send in their footage is on Saturday October 1st.

There are five categories for people to apply to:

  • Cinematic Narrative
  • Epic Landscape
  • Drones for Good
  • FPV Racing & Freestyle
  • WTF LOL
  • Promotional
  • Student Film

In order to submit to the student category, you must be a student at an accredited educational institute.

Films should be five minutes or less. Each award category will have a winner and a runner up. Two other awards are the Best of Show and Audience choice that will be given to worthy submissions.

The final films will premier on November 16th at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco. Tickets can be purchased online.

In 2016, FRiFF received over 180 submissions from over 40 countries. Of the submissions, 25 were screened during that year’s festival. You can view last year’s highlights in this video:

There is no hard rule on how much drone footage must be used in the film. Films without significant drone footage may be disqualified however. Winning submissions from the past two years have had quality drone footage in combination with a powerful story.

The Drones for Good category is particularly appealing. Drones have been used to stop wildlife poaching, prevent the spread of forest fires, and help in war zones. With all of the stories on how drones are being regulated by lawmakers, it’s good to see that the benefits of drones are being shown.

Last year, the Drones for Good category was won by a film called Zipline in Rwanda:

Zipline provides drone delivery of medical supplies in Africa.

Winning films will be selected by a panel of 23 judges. Judges come from diverse backgrounds. Some judges are drone experts, while others are professional film makers.

Go here for more information on how to submit your footage.