Our motto is: Make a film. Change the world.

The Mosaic World Film Fest presents quality independent work that may not otherwise be seen in commercial theaters, and represents filmmakers and film communities from around the world. We are proudly personal and cordial, feeling more like a cinematheque than a more traditional fest. We take our name from the famous quote by filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky: "Film is a mosaic of time."

We are looking for competence in the filmmaking craft; work that has vision and spirit; original subjects with well-told stories; and diverse voices. We look for films that represent different facets of filmmaking, from polished productions to no-budget gems.

The festival welcomes comedy and drama and everything in between. We have categories for narrative, documentary, experimental, animated projects, and music videos of any length. We have both student and open awards for all of our categories. Entries from any country are accepted.

Our past MWFF fest judges have included some terrific filmmakers including: Oscar-winning director Dan Lindsay, Oscar-nominated and Sundance Film Festival winning director Bing Liu, Film and TV director Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum, cinematographer Cynthia Pusheck A.S.C., production designer Kevin Conran, educator and filmmaker Camille DeBose, and many more.

The 17th annual fest will be held in person at the RPL Nordlof Center in Rockford, IL on September 13th, 14th, and 15th, 2024. For more information on us please visit the MWFF website: http://mosaicfilmfest.com or look for the hashtag #2024MWFF across all social media platforms.

Submissions for our 2024 fest will be open from October 1st, 2023 - June 25th, 2024.

Award certificates are presented to the best short films in all categories as decided by our panel of industry professional judges.

Best Narrative Film
Best Narrative Film (Student)

Best Documentary Film
Best Documentary Film (Student)

Best Animated Film
Best Animated Film (Student)

Best Music Video
Best Music Video (Student)

Best Experimental Film
Best Experimental Film (Student)

Our top feature length film prize is the Mosaic Spotlight Award. It is awarded to the top feature film out of all categories. That film is also then selected as the feature film for our #2024MWFF opening night screening.

THE SUBMISSION PERIOD FOR OUR NEXT FEST IS NOW OPEN!

The entry period for the 2024 fest will be October 1st, 2023 - June 25th, 2024.

2024 MWFF SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

- Each filmmaker may submit up to, and no more than, three (3) films. A separate entry fee in US currency and separate submission form is required for each film entered.

- Film duration must be between 1 second and 45 minutes including credits and opening sequences for short film categories. All films 46 minutes or over will be placed in the feature film categories.

- Films should be within an American “R” rating (Go to MPA: https://www.filmratings.com/RatingsGuide to see what each rating means) or lower and final decisions on content are at the ultimate discretion of the preliminary judges who will be previewing the films before the event.

- Entrant confirms and warrants required legal authority to submit the entry into the MWFF and to use all music, images, and content in the entry.

- Entrant will allow usage of clips from the film for promotional use on television, radio, in print, and at live MWFF events.

- If their work is selected for the fest, the entrant will allow usage of the full film for an in-person and live MWFF screening. We do not stream or have an online screening version of the fest.

- If the in-person fest or event is cancelled and an online fest or screening is necessary, the filmmaker retains the right to not screen the film online if desired.

- Films should either be in English or have English subtitles on the film in open-caption. Non-English entries submitted without English subtitles are not eligible.

- Films may be entered into ONE category only.

- Films must be submitted by June 25th, 2024.

- To be eligible for awards in their category, films must have been made on or after January 1st, 2023. Films made prior to that date will be considered for screening at the fest, but will not be eligible for competitive awards.

- Films previously submitted to the MWFF are NOT eligible.

- If your film is selected, a high quality HD download (minimum 1080p) of your film (if not already submitted) and any EPK or marketing materials will be requested.

Any questions or clarifications should be directed to us at: info@mosaicfilmfest.com prior to submitting your film(s).

Our panel will review all submitted films and we’ll let you know by July 24th, 2024 whether or not your film(s) has been selected for this year’s Mosaic World Film Festival.

Full session listings, screening schedules, and online ticket pre-sale links will be posted by August 1st, 2024.

Award-winners for each category will be announced at our #2024MWFF Opening Night Event on Friday, September 13th, 2024.

All filmmakers who have a film selected for the #2024MWFF event will receive a complimentary VIP full fest pass, which will allow them (and a guest) admission to all receptions and screening sessions at the festival.

Good luck!

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Grace Strom

    Everyone working at Mosaic World Film Festival is a kind, and dedicated person. Super friendly and supportive, and it’s clear how much they love film in all its forms. Can’t wait to apply again for next year’s festival!

    February 2024
  • Great festival and great staff, we were happy that "We are wrestlers!" got to make it to the official selection!!

    October 2023
  • Nice festival to be in. Thanks for having me

    October 2023
  • I would like to say thanks for awarding my film "Loving You is in the Bones " for Best Experimental (Student). Even though I couldn't attend the film festival in person, all the updates were of great help! Thanks again in name of my whole team and myself! Thanks again for the honour, it's been a pleasure

    October 2023
  • Judith Simonds

    First I would like to thank the Mosaic World Film Festival for selecting our movie, "Taking the City By Storm, The Birth of the Milwaukee Punk Scene". We were very excited to have our movie screened in Rockford, Illinois especially because Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick are in our feature documentary. We flew up from Austin, Texas to attend the red carpet photo-op on Friday and the screening of our movie on Sunday.

    We had hoped for a good turn out but instead only eighteen people showed up most of which were friends. It was disappointing that attendance was so low after we had sold out three shows in Milwaukee. For those shows we worked hard to get the word out on social media by doing radio, television, and newspaper interviews.

    When we spoke to local Rockford people we met, they told us that they had never heard of the Mosaic World Film Festival. My hope is that in the future more promotion will be done for this festival. The festival seems to be more of a teaching tool for the founder's students which is fantastic, but for all of our efforts, promotion of the festival would've been VERY helpful in increasing attendance and making our traveling there worthwhile. You don't need a lot of money to promote a festival, you need connections to local radio, television, and newspapers. Film promotion would be a great teaching opportunity for students of film as well.

    On Mosaic's FilmFreeway site I saw photographs of a packed movie theater making me believe that this was a well attended festival, but alas, it wasn't for our movie. Sunday night, (the last day of festival) was when our movie was shown, perhaps that had something to do with it.

    All that being said, Jerry is a great guy and he made us feel very welcome. If there was more promotion for this festival, perhaps the people of Rockford would take up some interest in it, spread the word, and actually attend.

    September 2023