KinoCritic accepts submissions for reviews and will be delighted to help any film reach a wider audience. The sole purpose of this is to help the distribution process.
All reviews featured on KinoCritic are selected exclusively through KinoCritic’s Monthly Picks submission process on FilmFreeway, through CriticBridge, through other partnership programs, or through KinoCritic’s direct outreach to filmmakers whose work has made a strong impression — entirely at KinoCritic’s discretion and never something that can be requested. There is no separate free-review track, and KinoCritic does not accept submissions through any other channel.
This policy applies specifically to filmmakers seeking coverage. KinoCritic may separately write about major studio or widely released films purely out of personal interest, without any contact or submission involved — these pieces are not part of the selection process above and do not meaningfully benefit from KinoCritic’s current audience reach.
Through the KinoCritic Monthly Awards, we spotlight exceptional work across four craft categories, giving filmmakers recognition, published review and promotion to a growing audience. Each month we select one winner per category. Winners receive a full written review explaining why their film excels.
Our mission is to help widen the distribution and visibility of films that might otherwise go unnoticed.
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Awards & Prizes
Winners are selected in each of four categories:
– Best Screenwriting
– Best Director
– Best Editing
– Best Cinematography
Each winner receives:
– A full published review on KinoCritic focused on their winning category.
– An Instagram announcement post published the same day the review goes live (KinoCritic reserves the right to publish additional posts or stories to further promote the film, at its discretion).
– Cross-posting of the review to KinoCritic’s Letterboxd profile, if requested.
– Ongoing promotional consideration — filmmakers are encouraged to share future screening dates, streaming links, and their Instagram handle or website, so KinoCritic can tag them and continue promoting the film after the win.
KinoCritic reserves the right to introduce a fifth category, “Special Mention,” in which a work that does not excel beyond the films selected in any of the categories above, but is nevertheless considered exceptional, will also be rewarded with a review.
KinoCritic reserves the right to include films outside the competition category in its selection, which would as well receive publication, but will not have a winning status.
Rules & Terms
Eligibility:
– Short films: up to 40 minutes. Features: 40+ minutes.
– No restrictions on country, language, or premiere status.
– Non-English-language films must include English subtitles.
– Unlimited submissions per filmmaker; each entry requires its own fee.
– Feature and Short entries are priced differently but compete together within each category.
– One film can be submitted once in a monthly competition, but it can resubmit in next month’s.
Submission Requirements:
– Minimum of 3 production stills required with each entry.
– Optional but encouraged: trailer, poster, link to where the film currently streams, upcoming release/screening dates, and Instagram handle or website for promotional tagging.
Judging:
– KinoCritic selects one winner per category each month. All decisions are final.
– A film may win no more than one category per month. If a film would top more than one category, KinoCritic assigns it to the category where it is strongest, and the runner-up moves up to win the other category. If this creates further overlap, KinoCritic continues reassigning down the ranking until every winner is unique
– The only category in which more than one winner may be selected is the exclusive “Special Mention” category.
Publishing:
– Reviews and Instagram announcements are published across the month following judging, on dates chosen by KinoCritic.
– KinoCritic reserves the right to delay publication due to unforeseen circumstances; a film’s winning status is unaffected.