"Audition" had its world premiere on October 2, 1999 at the Vancouver International Film Festival. The premiere was part of a program of modern Japanese horror films at the festival, including "Ring", "Ring 2", "Shikoku" and "Gemini". "Audition" was screened at the 29th Rotterdam International Film Festival in Holland in early 2000 where it was shown as part of a Miike retrospective. Tom Mes stated that "Audition" received the most attention at Rotterdam, where it won the FIPRESCI Prize for the best film of competition. The FIPRESCI award was given by a jury of international film journalists, who grant this award during the Rotterdam International Film Festival. Only films not in competition qualify for the award. "Audition" also won the KNF Award, voted by the Circle of Dutch Film journalists.