Centre Film Festival will return to the century-old cinema palace, The Rowland Theatre, in Philipsburg, PA as well as theaters in State College, Pennsylvania, from November 2 - November 8, 2026

The festival, entering its eighth 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 celebrates Pennsylvania native (or Penn State alum) artists and media activists such as Stan Lathan, Madeline Anderson, Tony Buba, Don Roy King, and Charles Dumas. Our Chandler Legacy Award has been awarded to Ayoka Chenzira, Gary Farmer, Jerrie Johnson, and Keegan-Michael Key.

We are committed to intergenerational interchange through all aspects of the festival from the selection process to hosting the festival to serving on our award-winning industry jury. We screen a slate of kid-friendly films, spotlight Made in PA films, run high school and university short film competitions, and offer workshops for all levels of film production. Our films screen in-person and virtually on the Eventive platform.

Our First-Act Script Lab focuses on encouraging films in central Pennsylvania.

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
Best Made in PA
Best Pride on Screen
Best Sports on Screen

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

Made in PA First Act Script Lab Award is $250 toward the production of a film produced in central Pennsylvania.

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 17, 2026 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.

Productions made after January 1, 2025 may be submitted, with exceptions for 2024 and 2023 films 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 under 15 minutes made as a university undergraduate or graduate student as of August 2025 will be considered.

High School Shorts:
All films under 8 minutes made by a currently enrolled high school student as of August 2025 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, mp4, BLU-RAY or DVD.

All short films submitted must be available for exhibition as an approved ProRes digital file. Short films may 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 reserves the right to use images from the films selected for marketing purposes (web, social media, print media, and television).
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  • Lissa Carandang-Sweeney

    Centre is a wonderful fest that really accommodates and cares for its filmmakers!! They had a fantastic lineup and offered generous housing to our director :) Such an honor to be a part of this year's lineup and I can't wait to see where this fest goes from here!!

    December 2025
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  • Emanuela Galliussi

    The Centre Film Festival was an absolute delight. Pearl and her entire team were incredibly gracious and accommodating. The films were impeccably curated and the filmmakers attending were remarkable storytellers, as well as down to earth humans. The intimate atmosphere was refreshing. I highly suggest submitting to this festival, they take care of their attending filmmakers and films. Definitely a festival to keep your eye on and just an overall quality experience.

    December 2025
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  • Ekaterina Ulyanova

    Thank you for the opportunity to show the film!

    November 2025
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  • JC Reams

    I was not able to make it to the festival, but from Instagram and my email exchanges, I know the event was a great success. My film was part of an online experimental block with some notable filmmakers. I would most definitely submit again, and I hope only to see this festival grow in the coming years.

    November 2025
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  • B. Suresh Kumar

    Centre Film Festival is an wonderful platform to showcase our films. Proud that our film BEULA is an official selection in this festival.

    November 2025
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