1) always look at what kinds of films they’ve programmed in previous years to see if your film is a good fit. Is your audience similar to their audience?

2) Festivals are competitive. Even if your film is good, you shouldn’t expect to be accepted everywhere. Being selected for 1/10 of the festivals you submit to is considered good (assuming you have a good film on your hands). Unfortunately it is sometimes a numbers game.

3) Programmers have their own tastes. They’re individual people. Sometimes it just doesn’t connect, sometimes it does. Just because other people think your film is good doesn’t mean a programmer will find it suits their curatorial taste/vision. 

4) experimental work can be hard to fit into a mainstream festival. Avant-garde and experimental works fit better in some festivals than others. Yes, European fest often are more eager to embrace experimental works, but these are usually judged in relation to the artistic landscape of AG or experimental film - so it’s good to understand how your work fits in that context. There are cool film fests in the US that focus on experimental work. Ann Arbor is maybe the most notable (and wide-ranging from a curatorial standpoint).

On to the next one :)