RATMA Film Festival
Short films, 20 minutes or less · International filmmakers welcome · Returning May 2027 · Awards Night May 22nd 2027
RATMA is back.
The River Aire TWENTY Minute Amateur Film Festival is back...
Born in Keighley in 2012, RATMA is returning after a pause after the 2021 festival. This is not simply a revival — it is a genuine comeback with renewed energy, renewed purpose, and new ideas and ways to help up and coming filmmakers and film lovers.
RATMA is back, and this time it is here to stay.
The 2027 festival will bring screenings, awards, and real opportunities for filmmakers from anywhere in the world — amateur, emerging, or studying. More details are coming soon. Follow along, explore the site, and get ready.
Open to anyone who makes & loves films.
RATMA is open to filmmakers from anywhere in the world. There are no professional equipment requirements, no industry credits needed, and no minimum budget. All you need is a film of 20 minutes or less and the desire to have your work seen by a real audience.
If you have never entered a festival before, RATMA is designed exactly for that moment. This is not a competition for established names or industry insiders. It is a festival for people who make films because they want to make films — because they have something to say and they found a way to say it.
Films must be 20 minutes or less. International entries are welcome. Entry information for the 2027 festival begins on the 1st of September 2026.
Why enter RATMA?
Here are a few reasons RATMA might be the right festival for your film.
Real festival recognition
Your film screened in front of a real audience, if you qualify, and considered for real awards. Not just an online upload.
Open to the world
RATMA welcomes filmmakers from anywhere internationally.
Keighley-based, globally open.
Genuinely welcoming
Built for emerging and amateur filmmakers. If this is your first festival entry, you are exactly who RATMA is for.
Creativity over budget
RATMA values what's on screen — your ideas, your story, your filmmaking, not how much you spent making it.
For students and colleges.
RATMA is for film students, media students, and the universities, colleges, film schools and creative arts departments that support them. Entering RATMA gives students a real festival opportunity — a deadline worth working towards, an audience worth showing to, and recognition that belongs on a filmmaker's CV and a college's record. This is not a token student category; it is a full festival with genuine standing.
Educational establishments are welcome to find out how RATMA can work alongside their courses and programmes. If your students make films, there is a place for those films at RATMA 2027.
The RATMA story.
RATMA started as a student project at Keighley College, created by Marcus Gregg. What began as a personal ambition to give short films a proper platform grew into something much bigger when Marcus brought Gareth James into the project. Together they built a festival that ran successfully for around ten years — a real, independent, filmmaker-first event driven by genuine enthusiasm for film and the people who make it.
RATMA stopped in 2021. Covid and personal circumstances meant the time wasn't right, and there was no easy way to keep going. But the story doesn't end there. In 2027, RATMA comes back — carrying the same spirit it was founded on, without pretension, without compromise. The festival that started with two people who loved films is starting again.
Latest from RATMA.
Festival announcements, filmmaker news and 2027 updates.
Announcement
RATMA 2027 relaunch announced
After a pause since 2021, RATMA is officially returning in May 2027. Here is what we know so far, and what is coming next.
Festival News
Entry information coming soon
We are working on entry details for 2027. Sign up for updates and be among the first to know when entries open.
2027 Update
What to expect at RATMA 2027
Screenings, awards, and a community of filmmakers. We are sharing what the 2027 festival will look and feel like.
Watch RATMA.
Tune in to our weekly podcast where we chat films, techniques, what we're looking for when judging and much more. Plus chats with past entrants and industry guests.
Past festival material, filmmaker content, trailers and 2027 previews — it is all on the RATMA YouTube channel. Explore what we have made, and subscribe for what is coming next.
Your film belongs here.
RATMA returns in May 2027 and entries are opening 1st September 2026. If you make films — whether you have entered a festival before or never even considered it — this is the right moment to enter RATMA.
20 minutes or less. Open internationally. No professional credentials required. Just your film.