A yearly tribute to cinema, the Alexandria Film Festival presents independent feature-length films and shorts of all genres by both emerging and established filmmakers. Our mission is to promote cinema as an important cultural, educational and entertainment asset to our highly engaged audience. We proudly showcase the historic city of Alexandria, Virginia as a dynamic and exciting venue for creating, exhibiting, and experiencing film.
Celebrating 18 years of independent film from around the world, the Alexandria Film Festival offers an enriching cinematic opportunity for filmmakers and film lovers alike by bringing high quality, diverse and thought-provoking films to Alexandria and the greater Washington, D.C. metro area. The 18th anniversary Alexandria Film Festival will take place November 7-10, 2024.
Year after year, the festival attracts exceptional independent short and feature-length films, while also holding filmmaker Q&As and staging other arts-related presentations. Alexandria and the surrounding region are home to an educated audience of film enthusiasts. Along with residents from the D.C. metro area, the city also attracts many domestic and international visitors, who value the city’s focus on the arts and treasure our charming historic community. Most of all, our audiences look forward to interacting directly with the filmmakers. The festival offers filmmakers the parallel opportunity to communicate with the audience as well as to network with other emerging and established filmmakers.
This year we are seeking local, national and international films that tell stories covering the following subject areas or genres:
*Local, national and international films
*Thrillers
*The environment, climate change with its social and economic impacts, sustainable agriculture and related subjects/issues.
*Animation
*Comedy, farce, and satire
*Children, young adults, and family-friendly
*Health, science, and technology
*National and international politics and public affairs, including immigration.
*Science fiction and fantasy
*Emerging issues in social justice and equality, including racial and ethnic justice, gender and gender identity, economic equity and religion.
*Indigenous cultures in the US and the Americas (with a focus on films from indigenous filmmakers)
*The Arts--all media and disciplines
*American history and Biographies
*Veterans and service members
*Women's issues, including the celebration of women filmmakers and/or the following: champion of women's rights, films providing a woman's perspective, and those that revolve around the unique and varying issues/dilemmas faced by women.
Filmmakers are encouraged to interpret these categories broadly. The Alexandria Film Festival welcomes all submissions. Films may be submitted via video link, note we do accept Vimeo. We also encourage you to allow for a downloadable link to your film.
For more information, visit AlexFilmFest.com and look for #AlexFilmFest on Facebook (facebook.com/alexandriafilmfestival), Twitter (twitter.com/alexfilmfest) and Instagram (instagram.com/alexfilmfest).
Films will be selected by a jury. Selected films will be eligible for the Best of Show ($300), Special Jury Prize ($200) , Best Foreign Language Film ($100), Regional Award ($100) and the Audience Award ($100). We will also award The Joe Cantwell Award for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking ($250). The Alexandria Film Festival reserves the right to add additional awards at its discretion. The prizes will be presented after the Film Festival’s Award Ceremony on November 10, 2024.