TWO live events per year.

At CCIFF, our dedication lies in assisting emerging filmmakers in showcasing their creations to audiences worldwide. Our objective encompasses the presentation of outstanding, genre-diverse independent films.
Grasp this exceptional opportunity to play a crucial role in this remarkable event.

A team of industry experts and academics from the Ventura County area judges each round of submissions based on a high standard of merit.
Award-winning projects are publicly screened in Ventura, and the audience can attend special Q&A sessions with the cast and crew.

Additionally, each submission can add further judging categories, and the names of the people to be credited for the additional categories must be included in the cover letter or sent to CCIFF via email.

Awards & Prizes

Each entry is evaluated by at least three judges on a performance scale, considering its quality and creativity. The entries with the highest ratings are nominated for the awards in their respective categories, from which the winners are selected.

The awards by category:
Best Indie Short
Best Drama Short
Best Documentary Short
Best Comedy Short
Best Action Short
Best Crime Short
Best Thriller Short
Best Sci-Fi Short
Best Animation Short
Best Experimental Short
Best Music Video
Best Director (Female)
Best Director (Male)
Best Actress
Best Actor
Best Acting Ensemble
Best Cinematography
Best Original Score
Best Costume Design
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Best Special Makeup

Categories with no submissions meeting the requirements have no awards.

EVENTS DATES
Screenings and Q&A. All submitters are always kept in loop and in advance to be able to do the preparations to attend the events.

Rules & Terms

All films should have a maximum length of 25 minutes.

The films must include English subtitles (unless the spoken language is English).

By submitting the film, the submitter agrees that:
1. CCIFF can use trailer/teaser/film poster/stills or BTS excerpt for promotional purpose (but do not release, under any form or circumstances, the full film)
2. Entry fees are non-refundable.
3. The submitter owns all the rights to the film.
4. The information about the entries can be disclosed to CCIFF associate film festivals.
5. Submission cannot be withdrawn after the announcement of the official selection.

For the public events, submitter must provide CCIFF full HD or 4K mov or mp4 digital file.

The projects that do not follow the rules & terms above can be automatically disqualified at the sole discretion of CCIFF.