The Colorado Lakeside Youth Film Festival or CLYFF for short is a local independent festival in its first year of running, catering to both local filmmakers and those under 30 years of age. The goal of the festival is to be a launching board for creatives early in their career looking for a small festival to cut their teeth on and get some of their work shown in front of an audience on a big screen.

The event is hosted in Denver, Colorado at the Oriental Theatre in Lakeside. Though a small venue and only a single day event, the ability to connect with the film community and start building a portfolio is no small feat for an up and coming filmmaker.

Awards & Prizes

There are a number of category prizes to be won at the festival, including but not limited to: Best Director, Best Editing, Best Sound, Best Overall, Audience Favourite, Etc. All of these prizes include laurels to adorn film posters and trailers alongside physical trophies marking your accomplishment.

Winners also gain exposure in the area and another chip on their portfolio.

Rules & Terms

All submitting filmmakers MUST BE under the age of 30 at time of submission. This can apply to ANYONE on the primary production team (Producer, Director or Writer). As long as ONE OR MORE of the team submitting meets that age requirement (as outlined above), all supporting crew or cast roles can fall outside the age category.

We want short films ONLY, preferably under 20 minutes, and completed at anytime, not necessarily this year, but preferably more recent. 1080p minimum preferred. No first premiere requirement, can have been published online. H.264 export preferred. MP4 preferred. No AI writing or image generation will be accepted.