I don't know what your film is about - although it sounds rather technical. The world of film festivals is tricky, political and costly.
Do a little reading on the festival circuit before you start to submit. Some fests are competitive with others, and some insist they have your premiere or they won't take the film. There are different levels of fests - like "A" fests, "B" fests, "C" fests, "D" fests and "grade Z" fests (my scoring system). If you premiere in a "C" festival, it's unlikely you'll ever get into an "A" or "B" festival. You want to start high and work your way down. The better the festivals are more likely to have distributors, press and audiences. And just because your film is programmed, doesn't mean anyone will come see it. So there's work involved, on the filmmaker's part, to generate audiences.
In the old days, festivals were about securing (or hoping to secure) distributution. But there's only a handful of fests that provide that kind of access. Instead, nowadays, fests are about generating publicity and finding a fan base/building an audience for your film. (And only a handful of fests can promise any kind of effective publicity.) So, it really comes down to building an audience for your film - one that might be excited to purchase the DVD or download one day.
While you should certainly do your research to see if a festival exists that might fit your film, you can try alternate routes if the film is truly unique and not a good fit for the festival circuit.
For instance, if the film is about architecture, start investigating various architectural conferences, museums or universities around the world for possible screening venues. You can charge a screening fee and even a personal appearance fee. Or you can simply send the venue a DVD free-of-charge in exchange for a mailing list or advertising (of your film) in their publication or whatever.
For "press," you might investigate architectural magazines or websites to see if they'd be interested in writing a story about the film.
Brainstorm all the possible venues where a film like yours might be welcome. Start making calls and sending out e-mails. (Get a trailer somewhere on line - even if it's a private link - to share with those you're contacting.)
And be sure to start a mailing list or create a Facebook page and a website to stay in contact with your audience.
Don't feel locked into the festival circuit; it's losing its allure and power.
Fests aren't right for all kinds of films.
