Your film. A real festival.

RATMA is a short film festival built for emerging filmmakers and film students. If you're studying film, media or creative arts — or if you're working on your first film — this is a festival made for you.

Why enter RATMA?

Entering a real film festival is different to uploading a film online. It means your work is considered, curated and screened in front of an audience. That matters — and it's something you can put on your CV, your showreel, or your university portfolio.

What you get from entering RATMA:

  • A real festival screening — your film shown to a real audience
  • Recognition — awards and acknowledgement for emerging talent
  • Festival experience — understanding how festival submission and selection works
  • A deadline — a reason to finish and submit the film you've been working on
  • Community — connecting with other filmmakers at the same stage of their journey

RATMA is specifically designed to be accessible to first-time entrants. You don't need a budget, a crew or industry connections. You need a short film and a desire to share it.

Film student watching a festival screening

For universities, colleges and film schools

If you work in film education, media studies or creative arts — at a university, college, film school or sixth form — RATMA offers something genuinely valuable for your students: a real festival submission process, the experience of having work considered and screened, and recognition that carries weight outside the classroom.

Universities & Film Schools

Encourage final-year students and undergraduates to submit their coursework and short projects. Festival submission is professional development — it teaches students how the industry works and gives their films a life beyond the submission deadline.

Colleges & Media Courses

RATMA began as a student project at Keighley College. It was always meant to be a festival for people who are learning to make films. Your students belong here, whether they're completing an A-level media project or a vocational film course.

Creative Arts Departments

Film, animation, digital media, screen arts — if your students make moving image work of 20 minutes or less, they can enter RATMA. The festival is open internationally and welcomes creative work in all its forms.

Young filmmakers collaborating on location

Built from a student project

RATMA didn't start in a boardroom. It started as a student project at Keighley College, founded by Marcus Gregg, who later brought in Gareth James to help grow it. For ten years it ran as an independent festival before pausing in 2021. Now it's coming back — and the student spirit it began with is still at its core.

That origin story matters. It means RATMA understands what it's like to make a film with limited resources, limited time and unlimited enthusiasm. It means we don't look down on emerging work — we look out for it.

What makes RATMA right for students:

  • Films 20 minutes or less — practical for student productions
  • Open internationally — students from anywhere can enter
  • No professional equipment required — creativity is the standard
  • Welcoming to first-time festival entrants
  • A genuine screening opportunity, not just a digital upload

Work with RATMA

RATMA is actively building relationships with universities, colleges, film schools and other organisations involved in film education. We want to become a festival that educators recommend to their students year after year — not as an afterthought, but as a genuine opportunity.

What a partnership with RATMA can look like:

Partnerships with RATMA are flexible and built around what works for your institution. They might include:

  • Becoming a recommended submission point for student films each year
  • Receiving direct communications about entry dates, deadlines and categories
  • Collaboration on workshops, screenings or events connected to the festival
  • A listed educational partnership on the RATMA website
  • Early access to festival news and announcements for your students

There's no fixed fee, no complicated process and no obligation. If you're interested in finding out more, the best thing to do is get in touch and start a conversation. We're approachable — it's kind of the whole point.

RATMA is returning in May 2027. If you'd like your students to be part of the festival from the start, now is a good time to connect.

Let's make something together.

If you're at a university, college, film school or media department and want to find out how RATMA can work with your students, get in touch. We'd love to hear from you.

If you're a student or emerging filmmaker and you're ready to enter a film — or just want to find out more before committing — the Enter page has everything you need.