A film festival lives and dies by its program. When your official selection spreads across three venues and four packed days, attendees need one clear way to see which screening block starts when, which shorts program follows the world premiere, and when the Q&A with the director begins. Flipbooks AI turns that printed program into a flipbook that pages like a real booklet on any phone, so nobody misses a session because the box office ran out of paper.
From paper booklet to a link you can update
The old way was a glossy booklet printed weeks before opening night. Then a venue changes, a jury screening moves, or a filmmaker cancels a Q&A, and every copy sitting in the lobby is suddenly wrong. A flipbook removes that risk. You export the same program PDF, drop it in, and share one link. Swap the PDF when the schedule shifts and the link stays identical, so the QR code on your posters and lanyards never has to be reprinted.
What curators put in the flipbook
Your curator team already builds the program in a layout tool, and that export is all you need. Inside the flipbook, attendees flip through:
- Official selection: feature films grouped by strand, with runtime, country of origin, and the venue each one screens in.
- Shorts programs: each block named and numbered so a viewer can tell shorts program 2 from the late-night genre block.
- Q&A and panels: which screenings carry a post-film Q&A, and the moderator or jury member hosting each one.
- Retrospective and laurels: your honoree retrospective plus the laurels and award categories a submission can win.
- Venue notes: how to walk from the main cinema to the second screen before the next screening block starts.
Build it once, share it everywhere
You do not need a developer, and most festival programmers finish setup in a single afternoon between submission deadlines.
- Export the program as one PDF. Take your finished layout from the cover to the back page and save it as a single file.
- Upload it and let it flip. Drop the PDF into Flipbooks AI and it becomes a smooth page-flip program in about a minute.
- Turn the link into a QR code. Print it on lanyards, posters, and the box office window so any guest can scan straight into the schedule.
- Post the link everywhere you sell. Put it on your festival site, in the opening night email, and across social so every attendee lands on the current lineup.
- Swap the PDF when the schedule moves. Replace the file after a venue change or a cancelled Q&A and the same link updates for everyone holding it.
Need a matching printed handout for press or sponsors too? The event program maker and the brochure flipbook maker cover those, and you can browse more use cases for ideas from other events.
Embed the program on your festival site
Drop the flipbook straight into your program page so visitors read the full lineup without ever leaving your site:
<iframe
src="https://flipbooksai.com/viewer?book=your-flipbook"
width="100%"
height="600"
title="Festival screening program"
loading="lazy">
</iframe>
A festival guest who can plan an entire day from their phone before opening night buys more tickets and turns up on time for the Q&A.
Beyond the program: submission guides and press kits
The screening program is the headline document, but it is rarely the only one your festival ships. Filmmakers hunting for the next call for entries want your submission guide, sponsors want a clean deck, and press want a kit they can quote from without emailing you at midnight. Each of those is a PDF too, so each becomes its own flipbook link.
A submission guide as a flipbook lets a first-time director page through eligibility rules, format specs, and deadline dates the way they would a real handbook, then jump straight to the entry form. When a curator opens submissions for the retrospective strand, you update that one PDF and the link every filmmaker bookmarked still points to the current rules. No stale attachment floating around a Slack thread.
A quick day-planning table
| Time | Screening block | Venue | Q&A |
|---|
| 10:00 | Shorts program 1 | Main cinema | No |
| 13:30 | World premiere feature | Grand hall | Yes, with director |
| 16:00 | Retrospective screening | Studio screen | With a jury member |
| 20:00 | Opening night gala | Grand hall | Yes, full cast |
Frequently Asked Questions
Can attendees read the program without downloading an app?
Yes. The flipbook opens in any phone browser from a single link or QR code, with nothing to install. A guest scanning your lanyard at the box office is flipping through the official selection and shorts blocks in seconds.
What happens when a screening time changes after we print?
You swap the PDF behind the same link. The QR code on your posters and printed laurels keeps working, and every attendee who opens it sees the updated screening block and Q&A time right away, with no reprint.
Is it really free to try for our submission and program docs?
Yes, Flipbooks AI is free to start. Upload a program, a submission guide, or a schedule and see how it flips before opening night, then share the link with your whole audience.
Can the submission guide live in its own flipbook?
Yes. Give the call for entries its own link so a first time director pages through eligibility rules, format specs, and deadlines without wading through the screening schedule. Update that one file when the retrospective strand opens and every bookmark still works.
Will the QR code on our posters survive a schedule change?
It will. The code points at the link, not at the file, so swapping the PDF behind it leaves every printed poster, lanyard, and box office card pointing at the current program. No reprint and no reissued codes.
Can we see which screening blocks the audience looks at most?
View analytics show how many people opened the program and which spreads they lingered on. If the late night genre block gets flipped to far more than the retrospective pages, you know where to push tickets in the next email.
Can we embed the program on the festival website?
Yes. Paste the embed code onto your program page and the full lineup flips inline, so a visitor reads the official selection and the shorts blocks without ever leaving your site or opening a download.
Can we keep the press kit private until the embargo lifts?
Put a password on that flipbook and share it only with accredited press. When the embargo lifts you remove the password or send the open link, and the same address carries the kit for everyone from then on.
Will the program open in a lobby with weak signal?
It loads in a browser, so a bar of signal is enough, and it stays open once loaded. For a venue with a known dead spot, keep the source PDF as an offline copy on the box office tablet and use the link everywhere else.
Does the flipbook keep our festival branding on every page?
It does. The flipbook shows exactly what your designer laid out, so laurels, sponsor logos, and strand colors read the same as the printed booklet. Paid plans add no watermark across the spreads.
Ready to put the whole lineup behind one link before opening night? create your flipbook and print the code on every lanyard.
