Film festivals, acceptance into multiple big ones.

[Indiefilming]

Is it possible for an indie film to be accepted into Sundance as well as say Cannes or Toronto International Film Festival?

A friend of mine says that once a film premiers at one of these big festivals the other big ones won't accept it.

I argued that most films that are good enough to get accepted to one big one don't necessarily go to all those others because they get a distribution deal at their first.

I realize I'm totally talking out of my ass because I have no idea if this is true. It was just an unverified assumption.

 

[directorik]

Your friend is correct to a point. The major festivals prefer a "premiere".
That does not mean a film will be automatically rejected. To verify the
assumption you should check out the submission rules of the festivals
in question. Just reading the submission guidelines can be very enlightening
for a filmmaker considering festivals.