Annapolis Film Festival

Having just completed its seventh year, the Annapolis Film Festival has become a highly anticipated and well-attended event embraced by the City of Annapolis. Nestled on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay, Annapolis is best known for its rich colonial, African-American, and naval history. As a vacation destination, it charms its tourists with many restaurants, museums, and galleries.

The film festival has had an extraordinary first seven years screening at
unique venues in the town's historic district. All venues are walkable within the city center and provide filmmakers with a high-quality digital presentation.

The Annapolis Film Festival is seeking an approximate total of 75 films to be shown March 26 - 29 , 2020. The festival is known for its quality slate and a strong line-up of both documentary and narrative films (both short and feature-length) from emerging and established filmmakers. We present a balanced program consisting of films with a common emphasis on storytelling excellence and/or innovative vision and cinematic artistry.

In addition to our commitment to screen the newest acclaimed films and premieres, we are also interested in films with nautical and environmental themes, films highlighting diverse cultures including African American, Latino, Asian and Jewish experiences as well as LGBTQ and women-centric perspectives.

We will present Jury Awards and Audience Awards for our Best Narrative Feature and our Best Documentary Feature as well as Narrative Short and Documentary Short. A select number of films in each category will be nominated and judged by a jury of industry professionals. Juried films will be awarded for displaying exceptional creativity, originality, and skill in script, direction, acting and high-quality production values. The Audience Awards in all categories will be screened in the “Best of the Fest” program on the last night of the festival.

For the third year in a row,, we will once again host our "Shorts Challenge," a live pitch competition during a programming block of the festival. The winner will receive a camera/sound/post-production package to help get their short film made. For more details on this exciting opportunity please see our website at www.annapolisfilmfestival.com.

Beyond the screenings, the festival offers ample networking opportunities with industry and filmmaker guests, as well as top-notch panels which cover current industry topics, and our popular Coffee Talks all with leading industry professionals. Filmmakers will have an opportunity to participate in these events, as well as numerous parties and receptions that provide a fun and relaxed environment to meet and discuss your work with industry colleagues.

Past guests have included iconic director Rob Reiner (LBJ), esteemed documentarian Albert Maysles (Grey Gardens, Gimme Shelter), actress Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey), actor Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice), actor Rory Culkin (Gabriel), Independent Spirit Award-winning filmmakers Matt Spicer (Ingrid Goes West) and Joshua Marston (Come Sunday, Maria Full of Grace), Oscar-winning screenwriter David S. Ward (The Sting), and noted speaker/writer/producer Ambassador Shabazz. Last year’s program featured the U.S. premiere of In Your Hands (starring Kristin Scott Thomas), the East Coast Premiere of Villains (starring Kyra Sedgwick), and award-winning films The Biggest Little Farm and Wild Rose. Our summer screenings included the documentaries Maiden and Mike Wallace Is Here, and the true story drama Official Secrets.

The AFF continues to strengthen the reputation of our festival by bringing top films to this beautiful city and to invite filmmakers to showcase global perspectives and independent thought to a community that truly embraces the art of filmmaking. Visiting filmmakers have been thrilled with the community's response. One filmmaker claimed, "this festival has the smartest audiences and the most community engagement we have seen on the festival circuit".

The mission of the Annapolis Film Festival is to encourage and grant the development of all aspects of the creative arts in and around Annapolis through the cinema experience. With independent films, panels and special showcases that will inspire, enlighten and entertain diverse audiences on a variety of topics, the festival will ensure the promotion of Annapolis as a cultural arts center. It will also define the economic impact on the town as community engagement broadens.