Tier 1 Festival Odds: Hard Stats Every Filmmaker Should Know

Film festivals remain essential for independent film PR and marketing. They generate early buzz, attract sales agents, and draw the attention of journalists and distributors. But what happens when your film doesn’t secure a slot at a top-tier event?

A Sundance Film Festival award ranks just behind an Oscar nomination as a measure of success for documentarians. Yet the odds of a feature documentary landing a slot in the Sundance program stand at just 2.1 percent. That’s 37 films selected from 1,736 submissions.

In 2025, the festival selected 88 feature-length films and 57 short films, both scripted and documentary, from 33 countries, including works from 37 first-time feature filmmakers. The selections came from 15,775 total submissions, including 4,138 feature-length films, 11,153 shorts, and 484 episodic projects. Among them, 1,736 feature documentary submissions resulted in 37 films accepted into competition, along with 11 short documentaries and three episodic documentaries. Feature documentaries had an acceptance rate of 2.1%. Only one in 50 submitted films was accepted. That marked an increase from 1.9% from 2024. International productions faced steeper odds, with a 1.1% success rate compared to 3.6% for U.S. submissions

Producers pour hundreds of millions of dollars each year into projects with slim odds of landing a top festival slot that could help recoup their investment. The documentary market, meanwhile, offers fewer theatrical, network, and major streaming deals, even for festival winners.

What can filmmakers do when the odds are that their independent film will not play the highest-profile festivals? Filmmakers should submit where appropriate, but maintain a realistic strategy from the outset. Festivals serve to gain recognition and build an audience to support a wider release. The right festival choices, paired with coordinated PR, make the difference.

Ginger Liu - entertainment@gingerliu.com