Join the reviewing team

We're looking for volunteer film lovers like you to help review the hundreds of shorts and features we receive as part of our open submissions process.

It's all done online, so you don't need to be Cambridge (or even UK) based to get involved.

You also don't need to be a film expert, just somebody who loves independent films, wants to support the Festival and filmmakers and can commit to watching a couple of hours of films each week.

How it works:

  • First, we’ll set you up with a reviewer account on our submissions platform (FilmFreeway).
  • Then once reviewing get’s underway, our Submissions Coordinator, Abby, will assign you a batch of films each week. It will likely be a feature and a few shorts.
  • You watch them online (it’s all done on the FilmFreeway website), then you score the film, give it a Yes/No/Maybe, write a sentence or two on what you thought of it, and move on to the next film.
  • You can, of course, ask for more films (or less if you’re struggling to get through them). We’re very flexible.
  • Once at least two reviewers have watched every film, the films with two Yeses make up the shortlist for our programming panel (Features) and Shorts programmer (Shorts).

The role of a reviewer will be crucial to the success of the Festival, and we want to make sure that this is clear from the get-go. Therefore for those local to Cambridge, we will be planning several special events for those taking part in the reviewing process this year, including special networking events, exclusive film screenings and access to specific shows at the 42nd CFF (depending on availability).

Fill in your details in the form below, and we’ll be in touch very soon.