Now in its tenth year, the Modern Hotel and Bar is proud to present 39 Rooms Film Festival: a permanent, revolving showcase for independent short films. 39 Rooms gives filmmakers the chance to show their films on a dedicated channel in every room of the Modern Hotel in Boise, Idaho. Selected filmmakers will have at least a year-long, public venue in which their films will be screened. Hotel guests can enjoy the films at their leisure, can comment on the films, choose their favorites and contact the filmmakers for copies. The Modern Hotel provides information on the films and filmmakers to our guests. Not only will the films have a year-round presence at the hotel, but selected films may also have the opportunity to be showcased at other venues locally, regionally and nationally, at a future date. We do not have a set date to show the films to the public. Nor do we have public screenings or an award ceremony. The program may be changed periodically throughout the year, depending on the program.

Note: to commemorate our 10th year anniversary, 39 Rooms will invite the best films shown in the last ten years to be included in next years program. Consequently, we may choose fewer new submissions for that program. Fee waiver codes available upon request.

Awards & Prizes

Filmmakers whose films are selected are offered accommodations at the Modern Hotel, bar and restaurant and will receive a small artist stipend of $390 per film.

Rules & Terms

We accept all short films, preferably under 30 minutes in length. Our program is an eclectic mix of films from around the world and includes narratives, documentaries and experimental art films.

4 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Mohammad Reza Mohammadi

    39 rooms is more than a festival. 39 rooms is family who take care about filmmakers and help them find best way with the professional journey.The programmers are some of the nicest people I've met. It was an exciting experience to have our short film as finalist there.I hope to be able to attend this wonderful festival next year with my new film.

    August 2023
    Helpful
  • Orangel Lugo

    An excellent showcase for our work. Good communication, you just have to be patient and wait for the established times. Grateful to the festival for the Official Selection.

    July 2022
    Helpful
  • Vanessa Bailey

    I had one email to say the film hadn't been selected, but might be selected later if other selections "don't work out" which is very odd. Then I had a notification on Film Freeway to say it was a "Quarter Finalist". There hasn't been any communication about the festival itself and now today I've received a notification to say it hasn't been selected! How you can un-select a film that was previously a "quarter finalist" I don't know.

    April 2022
    Helpful
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    I can only surmise that this filmmaker did not read the FilmFreeway description of our film "festival" before submitting her film. It is true we are not your regular, run of the mill, film festival. But, as it says in the description, "a permanent, revolving showcase for independent short films. 39 Rooms gives filmmakers the chance to show their films on a dedicated channel in every room of the Modern Hotel in Boise, Idaho. Selected filmmakers will have at least a year-long, public venue in which to showcase their films".

    39 Rooms is an attempt to give makers of short films another venue for getting their films seen. Many filmmakers like the idea that their films are shown as entertainment for our guests. But it may not be for everyone.

    I did contact this filmmaker to say that her film was not a finalist, but that with her permission, we would like to keep her film in the mix. It is a good film and sometimes we like to keep films in consideration until our new program is finalized. I am sorry she found this odd, but I guess it comes with the territory. We are an odd little "festival" (if you even like to call it a festival at all.)

    I contacted the filmmaker to assure her that we were not doing anything with her film without her expressed permission.

    39 Rooms

  • Лина Асадуллина

    I was very pleased that your festival turned out to be so free and independent that it did not succumb to the general trend towards Russophobia in the world.

    April 2022
    Helpful