From the creators of the Depth of Field International Film Festival, Docs Without Borders Film Festival, and the WRPN.tv Women’s International Film Festival (among a few other successful festivals) and under the umbrella of the WRPN.tv Network we bring you the LGBTQ Unbordered International Film Festival (LGBTQ-U)
LGBTQ-U, in cooperation with our distribution colleagues, is proud to offer guaranteed
distributor review to the top winners in Best of Festival Category*:
We live screen Best of Festival winners only. Other award winners down to Excellence will be invited to screen on WRPN.tv
"Best of Festival Award:  Selected by genre, category and domestic/foreign,  Presented to an outstanding entries from among the Best of Show Winners."
"Best of Show" selected by genre, category and domestic/foreign, so there will be over one BOS, i.e. BOS Documentary (Domestic), BOS Documentary (Foreign) and so on.
* (Please note: If there is insufficient competition within any category, LGBTQ-U reserves the right to withdraw a "Best of" presentation in that category.)

Other award levels include:
“Outstanding Excellence,”
" Excellence,"
" Exceptional Merit,"
"Jury's Choice Award,"
" Merit,"
"Kudos Endeavor,"

Don’t forget Feedback: The one element most festivals ignore.


We don't just ask you to pay a fee and then forget about you if you're refused. With us, rejected films get access to Feedback: a factor that most festivals overlook.
Rather than paying submission fees and receiving nothing in return, EVERYONE who submits to LGBTQ-U will receive ONE OF TWO benefits: Either 1) your film is already competition-caliber and becomes an Official Selection, or 2) you will receive a letter stating exactly why it was not accepted. If you can make changes, you can resubmit for free.

When was the last time you received a letter from a festival explaining WHY your film was rejected? Much less will they allow you to resubmit for FREE the following season (In case you did not have enough time to fix it)

Rules and Terms

•    LGBTQ-Unbordered is granted the right to use a promotional snippet from any film submitted and accepted for Competition at the Festival.
•    A brief clip of the winning entries will be available on the LGBTQ-U website and WRPN.TV.
•    The total number of awards given at each level will vary depending on the number of entries received for each competition deadline.
•    Do not expect to be selected or win a prize just by entering sub-categories. It doesn't matter if the movie itself was good enough to win an award; judges can reject filmmakers who enter sub-categories alone even if the movie itself was good enough. Even though the director didn't apply for these sub-categories, films can still win awards from the judges, even if they didn't apply for them. Your film's name will also show up on the official list if it was submitted to one of the 20 Major (full-price) Categories (films submitted for judging in reduced-rate, production value sub-categories only, will not be listed). Winning an award in a subcategory does NOT qualify for screening and sending to our distributors.
•   Subscribing to our WRPN.tv mail list is highly recommended to ensure you receive award notifications and additional discounts. We are not responsible for winners missing opportunities because of failure to receive or read emails.
•    The individual or corporation submitting the film certifies that it has the authority to commit the picture for screening and understands and accepts these rules and regulations.
•    There are no waivers, and the Competition reserves the right to deny entries.
•    DVDs CANNOT BE RETURNED!
•    Other than English, submissions must be subtitled, dubbed, or provide an English transcript.
•    If a category has inadequate competition, LGBTQ-U reserves the right to remove a "Best Of" presentation in that category.
•    We developed a mechanism to ensure that each film and screenplay are reviewed and rated individually so that entries do not compete against one another but are recognized for their particular merits. For all intents and purposes, they compete against themselves: we judge each entry on its own merits and assign points based on an innate value system. We want to make sure that when it's your turn to be tested, the judges' attention is on you, not on all the other films in queue: this ensures that they don't make comparisons in their heads when they should be completely focused on YOU.
•    Judges assign a performance scale to each entry, and winning entries are recognized and given not just for Best of Festival and Best of Show, but also for two Awards of Excellence levels, two Awards of Merit levels, a Kudos Endeavor Award, or no award.
•    The top scoring entry/entries for each season get Best of Festival and Best of Show honors; Awards of Excellence are given to entries with extraordinary aesthetic and technical achievements, and remarkable achievements are acknowledged at the Award of Merit and 'Kudos' award levels.
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the LGBTQ Unbordered International Film Festival, WRPN.TV, and ROMAN PICTURES from all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney's fees and court costs) resulting from any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss or damage to the screening videos entered.

What makes us different?......


What makes us different?......
Top-winning films at our other successful festivals have already received distribution through our exclusive distributor relationships:
- Guaranteed distributor review by Adler & Associates for features and shorts, “Cardinal XD Distribution, CSS Releasing PLUS Polaris Pictures (for Screenplays) among others that visit our on-line network, WRPN.tv, every so often.
All for selected: Best of Festival. We don't have any control or influence over Polaris Pictures or any of our associate distributors deciding to offer you a production deal or even answering your email. We merely open the door for the top winners.
- Other festivals claim to invite distributors to a venue: We Deliver Them To You Directly, Guaranteed.
- A festival that runs as a web-based competition PLUS, 

-We live screen Best of Festival winners only. Other award winners down to Excellence will be invited to screen on WRPN.tv

Rehoboth Beach, DE 2021 and Berkeley Springs, WV (At our discretion and by invitation and dependent on COVID-19 status)
- LBGTQ-U, with WRPN.TV Entertainment Network, will also offer a unique opportunity to show your film to a world-wide community of video fans from dozens of countries that filmmakers would not normally have access to, in the form of an optional on-line video exposure opportunity. This feature will be available for "Best Of festival" “Best Of Show,”
“Outstanding Excellence,” “Excellence,” and even some “Exceptional Merit” winners.
- We give any film NOT accepted a free synopsis of the judge’s notes, at the filmmakers' request, for free
-Opportunities for Sub-Category Awards include cinematography, score, original concept, direction, SFX, acting, writing, editing and many more! Winning an award in a subcategory does NOT qualify for screening and sending to our distributors.
- FREE Early bird entry of any rejected film, into LBGTQ-U’s next competition, upon completion of the suggested corrections outlined in your rejection letter
- $30 flat fee for ALL STUDENT FILM ENTRIES regardless of deadline status (proof required of student status at the time of filming: no refunds if your ID is not legitimate)
- Unique Category distinctions:
“Dust Collector” category for pre-2009 films
“Tight Shorts, ” and “Loose Shorts” distinction between running time of less than 15 minutes and those between 15-59 minutes
“Horror” and “Sci-Fi” separated into two distinct categories
- Finally, our founders are registered Committee Members of the Universal Film & Festival Organization (UFFO.ORG). The UFFO is a nonprofit operating out of the U.K., which exists for promoting best business practices for film festivals. This guarantees that your film will enjoy a fair and thorough judging process.

Awards & Prizes


LGBTQ-U, in cooperation with our distribution colleagues, is proud to offer guaranteed
distributor review to Best of Festival winners in the Major categories*:
"Best of Festival Award: Presented to an outstanding entry from among the Best of Show Winners."
"Best of Show" selected by genre, category and domestic/foreign, so there will be over one BOS, i.e. BOS Documentary (Domestic), BOS Documentary (Foreign) and so on.
* (Please note: If there is insufficient competition within any category, LGBTQ-U reserves the right to withdraw a "Best of" presentation in that category.)
Other award levels include:
“Outstanding Excellence,”
" Excellence,"
" Exceptional Merit,"
"Jury's Choice Award,"
" Merit,"
"Kudos Endeavor,"

SCREENPLAY WINNERS
  • RHODIUM gets scripts submitted to Polaris Pictures, a film finance company. Permanent placement on WRPN.tv Winners' Wall.
  • GOLD Permanent placement on WRPN.tv Winners' Wall.
  • SILVER, BRONZE, and HONORABLE MENTION Laurel

Dates & Deadlines
February 16, 2024
Opening Date
February 29, 2024
Earlybird Deadline
 44 Categories
March 31, 2024
Regular Deadline
 44 Categories
April 30, 2024
Late Deadline
 44 Categories
June 30, 2024
Extended Deadline
 44 Categories
August 31, 2024
Last Chance
 44 Categories
September 15, 2024
Notification Date
June 20, 2025
Event Date




BEST OF FESTIVAL
2020 - 2021 - 2022 - 2023