Cambria Film Festival

Welcome to Cambria! The Cambria Film Festival is proud to celebrate the best in modern independent filmmaking from around the world. Open to all genres, we showcase narrative features, shorts, documentaries, animation, comedy, and foreign language films to our engaging audience year after year. For filmmakers, we offer an atmosphere of networking, education, and community in the beautiful Central Coast of California with panel discussions, “Film Talk” seminars, and more!

Co-founded in 2018 by Alan Fraser & Nancy Green, the Cambria Film Festival was born out of a passion for independent film and a desire to create a platform for emerging filmmakers to showcase their work. Over the years, we have grown into a respected and exciting film festival, attracting filmmakers, actors, and film lovers from all corners of the globe. Nestled on the central coast of California, halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, Cambria is a unique, relaxed, and intimate seaside getaway destination with a deep fondness for the arts. With a colorful film and entertainment history, “Cinema by the Sea” is a no-brainer!

Going into our 10th year, CFF features five days of independent films and special events: February 3-7, 2027!

CFF is proud to showcase just under 100 films during the entire festival, housed in the newly upgraded and non-profit run Cambria Center for the Arts, with three screens and offsite screening opportunities at partner venues (subject to change), all located in beautiful downtown Cambria, CA.

CFF’s programming spans all genres, showcasing entertaining, thought-provoking, engaging, and enlightening narrative and documentary films. Some of our most notable categories include our “Doc Block” (short documentaries), “Late Nite Cinema” (thriller, horror, and sci-fi), “Cinema Medley” (varied genres, experimental, and world cinema), and the BRAND NEW showcase, “Family Films”!

Each night of the festival, guests and filmmakers can expect a special event with complimentary wine, food, and mixing/mingling before a curated film showcase that evening, culminating in our closing night red carpet Awards Gala!

Cambria Film Festival has built a reputation of being a “Filmmakers First” festival. Without our filmmakers, we have no festival, and we want to honor YOU! Our filmmakers are the true celebrities and are given the most attention, focus, goodies, and welcome! Expect a guaranteed Q&A session following your screening, hotel accommodations (subject to availability), swag bags, pass discounts, and special events just for you! The filmmakers are the true stars of the show, and we treat you as such!

Hear from some of our CFF Alumni for yourself…:
“Cambria was an amazing experience through and through! A well run and fun festival with a solid curated selection of films and really great people. For a smaller seaside town, the screenings were packed with true film lovers that made for great Q&A's.”

“An amazing fest run by amazing people with amazing filmmakers. Truly, I had such a good time. I'm honored that my film was chosen for such a wonderful festival.”

“Well, I thought I'd experienced the best of the best... until I got to the Cambria Film Festival. From start to finish, 5 stars... or make that 10!!! Lilliana, the FORCE behind it, along with her husband Jeff, and their amazing group of volunteers, are ON IT!”

“An absolutely top notch festival with a personal touch, one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. All of the programmers were clearly very passionate and made sure every filmmaker was taken care of.”

“Cambria is a "must submit" festival! The team did a great job making filmmakers feel welcome with multiple parties and events to meet fellow filmmakers. We had a *sold out show* for our film which is a huge testament to the work Cambria does to promote and bring an audience. Everyone was gracious and welcoming. And being such a short distance from both LA and SF, it's a perfect location. Drank wine, met filmmakers, had a great time.”