Navigating Festival Submissions on a Micro-Budget: Prioritizing & Waiving Fees?

Hey folks,

I'm Derek, a 1st AC, and I just wrapped a short I DP'd for a friend. It's a passion project, super lean on budget, we're talking ramen noodles and borrowed gear. Now we're looking at festivals, and the thought of submission fees is honestly a bit daunting. I keep seeing estimates of $1,000-$5,000 just for fees, which is more than we spent on some of our shooting days!

I'm trying to figure out the smartest way to approach this. How do you all prioritize which festivals to submit to when every dollar counts? Are there specific strategies for identifying festivals that are more open to grants or fee waivers for genuinely independent, micro-budget films? We've tried a few direct emails but haven't had much luck yet. Any wisdom or war stories on this front would be hugely appreciated. What's been your experience?