The Big Picture Peoria Film Festival is an opportunity for Midwest filmmakers to come together, screen their short films, and celebrate their work. The selected films will be screened on the giant screen theater at the Peoria Riverfront Museum.

The festival is a three-day event where filmmakers are invited to explore the city of Peoria through various events hosted by the festival, including networking opportunities, social gatherings, and after parties.

We serve Central Illinois’ community by building local and regional film connections through networking, screenings, and awards. Our mission is to celebrate our regional filmmakers and highlight artists' voices from underserved communities.

All selected films will receive an "Official Selection" film festival laurel and 3 free passes to the film festival. We love to celebrate our filmmakers and give them exclusive opportunities to mix and mingle with each other, so more special offerings for filmmakers will be announced closer to the fest.

Films in the narrative, animated, and documentary categories can be of any length, up to 30 minutes, however, we encourage films to be no longer than 20 minutes.

Awards & Prizes

The selected films will play at a special presentation at the giant screen theater at the Peoria Riverfront Museum. Award winners will receive a film laurel, framed special edition festival poster, and in some cases a cash prize. Awards include our Biggie Gold, Biggie Silver, and Biggie Bronze awards, as well as People's Choice Awards. Additional prizes and special awards will be announced closer to the festival date.

Rules & Terms

The 5th annual Big Picture Film Fest will take place the weekend of November 20-21, 2026.

1. Submission Deadlines:
Submissions will be accepted starting April 1.

General Films:
Early bird pricing is $10 from April 1-June 1.
Regular deadline pricing is $20 from June 2-August 1.
Extended Deadline pricing is $30 from August 2-September 1.

Student Film:
Early bird pricing is $10 from April 1-June 1.
Regular deadline pricing is $10 from June 2-August 1.
Extended Deadline pricing is $15 from August 2-September 1.

Super short films (10 min. and under) pricing is:
Early bird pricing is $10 from April 1-June 1.
Regular deadline pricing is $15 from June 2-August 1.
Extended Deadline pricing is $20 from August 2-September 1.

All selected filmmakers will be notified the first week of October.

2. Submission Guidelines:
All films must be presented in English or have English subtitles, if presented in another language.

Films in the narrative, animated, and documentary categories can be of any length, up to 30 minutes, however, we encourage films to be no longer than 20 minutes.

Films in the student category are highly encouraged to be under 10 minutes.

We may occasionally make exceptions for length of films, but please reach out to us via email to make a request.

WE DO NOT ACCEPT FEATURE FILMS - 45 Min+.

Submitted films must have been finished after January 2021.

Films must also be submitted via online screener ONLY. We do not accept DVDs.

Open to all filmmakers living (or going to school) within 350 miles of Peoria, Illinois.*

*If you are close to 350 miles or unsure if you are eligible, please don't hesitate to reach out to us because our goal is to support Midwest filmmakers and we may make an exception.

Filmmakers who have been nominated must have a representative attending the festival in order to guarantee their film will play. If they do not attend, their film will still keep its official selection status and the film might play, but there is no guarantee.

The festival does not hold responsibility for any musical or visual components shown in their film.

By submitting to the film, you agree to allow us to publicly publish your film name, poster, crew names, stills, short clips (up to 10 seconds), and location (since we want to emphasize celebrating regional filmmakers). If you have any concerns, please let us know in the submission form or reach out via email.

3. Submission Fee:
All submissions are to be paid through FilmFreeway platform. The submission fee is non-refundable.

4. Some finishing sound, color, and small edits may occur between the time you submit and the festival, but programmers will have to judge the material you submit. If you plan to make changes, please make a title card at the beginning of your film that includes what changes you still plan to make. Please message the Big Picture team if you ever make any major changes to the film after submitting, especially length of film (more than 1 minute) and anything that might not be suitable for young viewers.

5. Big Picture Peoria Film Festival staff may apply to the film festival, but may not win an award from the judges. Staff members are only eligible for people's choice awards.

6. Marketing: If accepted, BPPFF will have permission to use stills and clips from your film in promotional material.

7 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Shea Kelly

    An absolute blast of a fest, put on by dedicated staff and film-lovers. One of the best!

    June 2026
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  • Sydney Seipel

    Everyone at the festival was welcoming and communicative; I could not have asked for a better experience! Big Picture is a wonderful supporter to filmmakers and audiences alike, and I was so grateful to see Percival Mule on the giant screen.

    November 2025
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  • David L Bradburn

    Wow, what a great community Big Picture fosters. A great mix of locals and out of towners at the festival. Each screening was at over 90% capacity and many of those in attendance were locals who did NOT have a film in the festival.

    I highly recommend submitting and attending.

    November 2025
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  • Maria Sterr

    It was very flattering to be a part of and wonderful to see my film 'A Trip To Somewhere Else' on such a big screen. Although the people were the best part of it. The organizers were very passionate to have everything run smoothly and everyone was so nice!

    January 2025
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  • RisĂ© Sanders-Weir

    The whole festival ran very smoothly and I felt the warmth and excitement from the staff to have us there. A smaller, yet mighty effort within the world of festivals!

    December 2024
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