DFW27 Submissions Are Open: Everything You Need to Submit

Roman Ponca spent an hour lying on the ground in Patagonia, camera rolling on a timelapse, while a cougar watched him from a distance. That shot never made the final cut. The one that did: two 360-degree cameras strapped to a weather balloon, rising through cloud layer after cloud layer until only the Blue Marble filled the dome. It's the closing sequence of "Edge of the Sky," built around three strangers, a glider pilot, an astronomer, and a young girl, all connected by the same sky. It played at Fiske Planetarium in April to an audience that gave Ponca something he wasn't expecting: applause in the middle of the show. The film went on to win Best Narrative Film at DFW26.

That's the kind of film DFW is built for. And starting today, DFW27 fulldome film festival submissions are open on FilmFreeway.

Dome Fest West is the only dedicated fulldome film festival in the United States. DFW27 returns to Fiske Planetarium in Boulder, Colorado, April 21 to 25, 2027, for its sixth year and fourth at Fiske. If you're making work for the dome, a narrative short, a live audiovisual performance, or something that doesn't fit a category yet, this is where it gets seen by the people who program planetariums and dome venues around the world.

Here's everything you need to get your film in front of the jury.

What We're Looking For

DFW27 accepts submissions across four categories:

• Feature Dome Film (20 minutes or longer)

• Short Dome Film (20 minutes or less)

• Live Dome Experience (any length)

• Interactive Dome Experience (any length)

Submissions are open globally. Work needs to be designed for fulldome projection, and we want to see the full range of what that means: narrative films, science and education content, music and visual albums, live performance pieces, and interactive work. The jury evaluates on storytelling, visuals, sound, innovation, immersion, and audience engagement. We're not looking for a house style. We're looking for work that only makes sense on a dome.

At submission, all you need is a screener: a complete online preview in fulldome 1:1 fisheye format, uploaded through FilmFreeway. That's what the jury watches to evaluate your film. Live Dome Experience and Interactive Dome Experience entries can submit HD or 4K video that best represents the performance. You'll also need your entry form, a complete credits list, a director or producer headshot and bio, and a digital press kit (5 high-resolution stills plus 5 behind-the-scenes stills). Student work needs proof of current enrollment. No Domemaster required at this stage. That only comes into play if your film gets selected, and we'll walk you through the full-resolution delivery specs at that point.

Already Making VR? It Might Belong on a Dome Too

We also welcome VR work, as long as it's converted to fulldome format first. It's not automatic, and it doesn't always work. Some VR pieces translate to the dome beautifully. Others don't make the jump at all. The medium works when the creator is thoughtful about it: this isn't a crop, it's a real translation of a VR image into the fulldome format. Get that right, and it's a strategy worth trying.

We've seen it pay off. "Minam River Wildlife Area," Thomas Hayden's 360° VR field tour through nearly 17,000 acres of Oregon wildlife habitat, won Best Environmental Film at DFW26 after making the jump from VR to the dome. Hayden has spent almost 20 years in 360 video production, and the care that went into translating that footage for the dome shows.

Not sure where to start? This tutorial walks through the conversion process step by step.

The projects that tend to land best are educational, historical, or documentary work, exactly the territory "Minam River Wildlife Area" covers. Planetarium audiences already lean toward space, science, and art, so content in that lane often finds a natural home on the dome even if it started life in a headset. If you've got a VR project sitting in that space, converting it and submitting here opens up an entirely different audience than VR alone reaches.

How Fulldome Film Festival Submissions Work at DFW

Submissions go through FilmFreeway: filmfreeway.com/domefestwest. If you've never used it, the platform is straightforward. Create a free FilmFreeway account (it costs nothing to sign up), build a profile for your film, and you're set up to submit to festivals well beyond DFW using the same account. For DFW specifically, that screener file you upload is what carries your submission all the way through jury review. Nothing more technical than that. Remember: the Domemaster only enters the picture if you're selected.

The deadline ladder for DFW27:

• Earlybird: August 28, 2026

• Regular: October 16, 2026

• Late: December 4, 2026

• Final: January 8, 2027

Selections and the full lineup will be announced February 9, 2027, ahead of the festival itself.

Entry fees for DFW27, confirmed on FilmFreeway:

• Feature Dome Film: Earlybird $15, Regular $25, Late $35, Final $45

• Short Dome Film: Earlybird $10, Regular $15, Late $20, Final $30

• Live Dome Experience: Earlybird $10, Regular $15, Late $20, Final $25

• Interactive Dome Experience: Earlybird $10, Regular $15, Late $20, Final $25

FilmFreeway Gold members get a discount at every deadline. Each film needs its own submission and its own fee, so if you're entering the same project in two categories, submit and pay for each one separately.

If you have questions about eligibility, formats, or anything else, reach out directly at submissions@domefestwest.com.

Why Submit to DFW

The honest answer: because the people in the room can actually do something with your film.

DFW27 runs as two connected events under one roof. The Fulldome Forward Expo brings in planetarium directors and dome venue programmers, the people who decide what plays in their domes next, for three days of panels, workshops, and structured business meetings. The Dome Fest West Film Festival is the screening and awards program at Fiske. When your film gets selected, it isn't just playing to a festival crowd. It's playing to the buyers.

That distinction matters more this year than ever. Growing planetarian attendance is DFW's top priority for 2027, built on a festival that already produced more licensing conversations, distribution deals, and co-production partnerships than any year in DFW's history. More planetarium directors in the room means more people scouting your film for their own venues.

Kael Alden, whose visual album "Space and Time" won Best Musical Feature at DFW26, put it simply when we asked what he'd tell filmmakers just starting out in fulldome: "Don't be afraid to fail. Do whatever you can with whatever tools you've got. Try new things. Rules? What rules?" He built the film's visuals over two and a half years on a $200 secondhand graphics card, and it premiered on one of the best dome systems in the country.

Ponca had similar advice after "Edge of the Sky" took Best Narrative Film: "Take your camera and go outside. The best ideas rarely come while sitting indoors. Don't get stuck, shoot, experiment, and keep iterating." It's the same instinct that put him on his back in that Patagonian field in the first place.

Beyond the buyers in the room, submitting to DFW gets you a jury-selected slate alongside the best fulldome work being made anywhere, an awards ceremony with categories built specifically for this medium, and direct access to the people who can move your career forward. If you want to see what that looks like in practice, read our recap of what DFW26 actually delivered: Dome Fest West 2026 Recap.

Submit Your Film

Submissions are open now. Earlybird pricing runs through August 28, 2026, so the sooner you get your film in, the better.

Submit at filmfreeway.com/domefestwest.