Centre Film Festival will return to the century-old cinema palace, The Rowland Theatre, in Philipsburg, PA as well as the historic State Theatre in State College, PA, from October 30, 2023 to November 5, 2023.

The festival, entering its fifth year, is honored to be an influential, growing international film festival in central Pennsylvania. We aim to screen local films with global impact as well as global films with local impact. Our Lifetime Achievement Awards celebrated Pennsylvania native (or Penn State alum) artists and media activists such as Stan Lathan, Madeline Anderson, Tony Buba, and Keegan-Michael Key.

We are committed to intergenerational interchange through film and all aspects of the festival by hosting a high school and university short film competition, as well as including up-and-coming filmmakers in our award-winning jury and selection process.

Awards & Prizes

Our award-winning jury select films for any or all of the following categories:
Best Feature Documentary
Best Fiction Feature
Best Cinematography
Gratitude Awards for social-impact Features and Shorts
Best Short Documentary
Best Fiction Short
Best Acting
Best Director, Short Film
Best Director, Feature Film
Best Student Short
Best High School Student Short

We will present the following Youth Jury awards for High School films:

FIRST PRIZE:
Reduced Tuition to the PENN STATE UNIVERSITY SUMMER FILM CAMP
https://bellisario.psu.edu/departments/summer-camps

SECOND PRIZE:
$250 toward the production of your next film

Rules & Terms

Please submit all films through FilmFreeway.

All films must be submitted as either an online screener or Vimeo link for consideration. If links are password-protected, passwords must be valid through November 5, 2023 or the submission will be considered be disqualified with no refund.

After submitting, please check your FilmFreeway account to make sure that your submission meets our requirements and has been accepted for consideration.

Films selected for the fifth annual Centre Film Festival will be announced no later than Friday, September 1, 2023.

Productions made after January 1, 2023 may be submitted, with exceptions made upon consideration.

Feature Films:
All films above 60 minutes are considered feature films.

Short Films:
All films under 45 minutes are considered short films.

Student Short Films:
All films made as a university undergraduate or graduate student as of August 2023 will be considered.

High School Shorts:
All films made by a currently enrolled high school student will be considered.

Entries previously screened in Centre county or aired on television in Pennsylvania or are publicly available on the web (ie Youtube, Vimeo, etc.) prior to the Festival will not be considered. Exceptions may be made upon consideration.

Do not submit works in progress. Do not submit industrial or instructional works.

All feature films submitted must be available for exhibition in one of the following formats: DCP (preferably unencrypted) or as an approved ProRes digital file, BLU-RAY or DVD.

All short films submitted must be available for exhibition as an approved ProRes digital file. Short films will be transferred temporarily onto our secure and private hard drive system for presentation in one or more of our compiled short programs.

Filmmakers are responsible for the shipment of the exhibition copy to Centre Film Festival by the requested deadline. Centre Film Festival will cover outbound shipping only.

Centre Film Festival reserves the right to use images from the films selected for marketing purposes (web, print media, and television).
9 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
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Networking
  • BRIC TV

    An amazing film festival! The lineup was an absolute joy, as were the filmmakers who attended. A truly great experience, and cannot wait to submit again.

    January 2023
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  • Funmi Adetola

    Loved it. Any questions were quickly answered. A great festival. Will definitely submit again soon.

    January 2023
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  • Mailuki Films

    Una de las experiencias más bonitas del año en el circuito Internacional de festivales de cine.

    November 2022
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  • Justin Zimmerman

    The Centre Film Festival was incredibly welcoming. The gatherings were great, the screenings were well attended and their awards ceremony was epic. The entire team made sure the experience was one to remember. Highly recommended.

    November 2022
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  • Hsuan-Wei Wu

    I want to represent my entire crew, cast, and family members to give our biggest thanks to all the Centre Film Festival Juries and team. Thank you for having my film and giving me this wonderful opportunity to present my work at Centre Film Festival and I’m glad that you like the film.

    Although I wasn't able to attend the festival in person, the festival was able to hold a live Q&A panel with us student/international filmmakers.

    As an alumni, a student filmmaker, who’s fairly new in this game, this is a memorable and meaningful stepping stone in my career, and hopefully, in the near future, I will have the opportunity to present more of my work here.

    Thank you Centre Film Festival!

    December 2021
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