Big Water Film Festival

The Big Water Film Festival takes place on the shores of Lake Superior, in Ashland, Wisconsin and surrounding communities. Our Festival headquarters is the Bay Theater on Main Street in Ashland, an Art Deco theater with a completely modernized main screen with stadium seating.

Regular attendees at our Festival know it for its friendliness and the ease with which audience members and filmmakers can mingle and chat.

We hold both an in-person and virtual festival. You can see our festival website, including what films we presented most recently, here: https://18thbigwaterfilmfestival.eventive.org/welcome.

Our 19th Festival, to be held in January of 2027, will be a hybrid of live and online showings. We will have our live Festival on January 14-16, 2027. Filmmakers should plan to have accepted films shown online from January 17-February 2, 2027, through the Eventive platform, which provides full DRM anti-piracy protections.

We accept films of all genres and points of origin. Some of our favorite films have been made by local or Midwest filmmakers and some have come to us from all around the world, including Iran or France or Canada. Our website lists all of our previous award winners. https://17thbigwaterfilmfestival.eventive.org/awardwinners.

BWFF values your work and devotes a fair amount of its budget to awards. The Big Water Film Festival awards the following prizes: Best Feature, Best Short, Best Short-Short, Best Narrative Film, Best Documentary Film, Audience Favorite, and the Loren Savitsky Emerging Filmmaker Award. Each award comes with a certificate, a beautiful hand-made award plate, and $150. (If we do not receive enough successful submissions to make a category competitive, we reserve the right to cancel an award. This has never happened, but we mention it because it might.)

IF YOU WISH TO BE CONSIDERED FOR THE LOREN SAVITSKY EMERGING FILMMAKER AWARD, PLEASE INCLUDE A COVER LETTER WITH YOUR DATE OF BIRTH. A FILMMAKER MUST BE 25 YEARS OLD OR UNDER ON THE OPENING DATE OF THE LIVE FESTIVAL TO QUALIFY.

1. The entrant certifies to the Festival that he/she/they/it has the right to submit the film and all visual or sound elements contained in the film, to the Festival, and to consent to the public showing of the film, and will defend and hold harmless the Festival, its committee members, and sponsors for any costs or damages associated with any copyright or other intellectual property or other claim (such as but not limited to libel, slander, or invasion of privacy) associated with the film or its submittal.
3. The entrant grants to the Festival the right to use the film, any trailer(s), still photos, publicity materials, and information about the cast and crew to promote the Festival.
4. If the film is accepted, entrant grants to the Festival the right to show the film at the 19th Annual Festival, which will be presented in person and online during January-February, 2027 (see specific dates above). The Festival will not be obligated to withdraw the film from the Festival unless the entrant provides notice to the Festival of the film's withdrawal before December 10, 2026.

Overall Rating

Quality

Value

Communication

Hospitality

Networking

Gwen Briesemeister

I have had the pleasure of screening films at this festival over the past few years and it has always been one of my favorite. Many organizers of this festival have been involved since it's beginning and they really know how to make this one of the most fun and inviting festivals in the upper midwest. I highly recommend this festival.

March 2026

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Amir Zargara

Thanks for having us :)

January 2026

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Patrick Coyle

Just returned from the Big Water Film Festival. This is one of my favorite film festivals located in charming Ashland, WI on the shore of Lake Superior in the dead quiet of winter...beautiful. Not for the faint of heart in mid January:) I loved it. Powdery snow blew through town all weekend and I felt like I was in a snow globe. The fest is well attended. The staff is organized and incredibly welcoming (Claire, David, et al). Films from around the world are screened at the impeccable Bay Theater on Main Street, an adorable, restored, boutique cinema with great, complimentary popcorn, one of the most charming venues I have ever screened in. Our film UNHOLY COMMUNION was named Best Feature and that fills me with pride and gratitude. Highly recommend The Big Water Film Fest.

January 2026

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Mikayla Swanson

It was such an honor to have my film selected for the Big Water Film Festival, and so much fun to be able to see my own work on the big screen in my hometown!

March 2025

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Pamela Oliver Munoz

Very proud to have been selected by Big Water Film Festival! In the middle of a cold Wisconsin winter they were warm and welcoming even through e-mail! Lovely films!

January 2025

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