The Chandler International Film Festival is a diversified and pioneering film festival located in Chandler, Arizona. CIFF is going screen over 150 films from more than 35 countries! Our 4-day (January 17-20, 2020) festival will include Red Carpet, Opening Ceremony, World Premiers, Arizona Film Market & Expo, Award Ceremony, Networking, Workshops, Q&A and After Parties.

Chandler International Film Festival is merging with the 25rd Chandler Multicultural Festival where attendees will watch a special outdoor screening on the Chandler Downtown Stage on January 18, 2020.

We provide excellent service to filmmakers as each filmmaker is part of our growing CIFF family and we are happy to assist from stage of submission to the end result at the Annual Event.

Our Mission:
With a passion for the art of filmmaking, the Chandler International Film Festival aims to support independent filmmakers from all over the world and their filmmaking. We provide a platform through which projects are reviewed, judged, and honored for their uniqueness, creativity, and storytelling ability.

Reviews:
"I know it's weird to give five stars for everything, but I would give ten if I could. Chandler International Film Festival was one of the best festivals. Great programming, wonderful people, perfect communication, and a lot of fun. If you miss this festival you REALLY MISSED A LOT. Chandler really is a festival for filmmakers and people who love movies. Thank you for having me." - Bradford Uyeda

"Everything was top notch, from the communication to the movies, to the amazing award ceremony with those 30-pound trophies. I didn't win one, but it made me want to try harder next time, and there will be a next time." - Jim Politano

"Very good film fest, I think it will become a Oscar Qualify festival. I'm gald that I have been selected to screen in the annual event." - Han Zhang

Awards & Prizes

Awards & Prizes:
We award the best independent filmmakers after a comprehensive evaluation process.
Official Selection of CIFF receives an Official Selection laurel. All Winners receive laurel and trophy.

Filmmakers will have access to the annual festival screening in January, Red Carpet Interviews, Awards Ceremony and Networking opportunities in Chandler, Arizona.

Rules & Terms

Rules & Regulations:
1. Premiere Requirements: All films must have never been screened in the state of Arizona.

1. The competition is open to International entries. Please check individual categories and submit suitable categories to your project.

2. Feature films are 40 minutes in length or longer. Short films are under 40 minutes in length. We reserve the right to watch a minimum of 30 minutes of all films in order to reach a decision. All non-English speaking films must be presented in their original version with English subtitles. Feature screenplays must be between 60 and 130 pages in length. Short screenplays must be between 1 and 45 pages in length.

3. Entries must not have been publicly shown before January 1, 2016.

4. Films previously entered into and screened at our festival are not eligible for re-entry in subsequent years.

5. Films that are "Not Accepted" will not screen at the Annual Event or receive laurels. Only Official Selection WILL screen at the Annual Event.

6. Works in progress are accepted but are not encouraged. We cannot promise that we will be able to watch re-edited submissions. Please only submit works in progress if submitting close to the final deadline.

7. CIFF confirms that the festival has the permission to exhibit your film(s) during the festival and /or at any other Festival event. Submission of a work implies that the Festival can employ moving image excerpts and reproduce stills of exhibition promotion. Credit will be given to any filmmaker or screenwriter of such material is used in Festival promotion. The Original copyright holder retains all rights to their work.

8. You may submit multiple entries but must pay an entry fee for each.

9. Scripts are eligible to receive laurels and optional awards, but do not show at the annual event

10. No refunds will be given.

About our Waiver Policy:
We believe in a fair policy to each and every filmmaker. We try to keep reasonable fees for all submissions and we offer regular discounts to students and new filmmakers, however, no waivers at this stage.

94 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Michelle Taylor

    excellent strong festival, with dedicated staff, and lots of networking possibilities. I have 3 or 4 festival selections with films from MY BEST FOR FESTS curated line-up, I was very lucky and really happy about it. Bruno Chatelin Festival agent

    March 2019
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  • Richard A. Pines

    Fantastic festival honored to have taken home Best Arizona Film thank you so much!!! Great food and beverage establishments all within walking distance. The City of Chandler is extremely supportive. Excellent Red Carpet Ceremony and Awards Program. Mitesh Patel is a superb festival director readily accessible. Overall a great environment. Highly recommend to all in the industry. Thank you all once again!!

    January 2019
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  • Matt Burkett

    We got our film accepted into CIFF and with all of us being local AZ filmmakers, were pretty excited by the opportunity. Ten people---cast, crew, friends, and family---came out to see the movie when it was supposed to play on that Sunday. But, oddly, it never did..

    All of the other films in the block played perfectly until ours came up. We were met with a black screen with only the audio playing before it suddenly stopped entirely and skipped to the next movie.

    I found Flix staff (Flix was the theater where this event was being held) who didn't seem to care much---"Oh, that sucks, nothing we can do about it" was one answer---and they directed me to the film festival's table. It's there I met a guy who I assume was in charge.

    I explained what had happened and he honestly couldn't look any more blase. He told me that it was probably a corrupted file, insisted that he had personally checked all 150 movie files before the festival, then asked me if I had uploaded the correct file to FilmFreeway (which I had ... and the festivals that our movie played at in New York, Canada, India, Hong Kong, and Japan had absolutely zero trouble downloading the file and playing it.)

    I asked how we could get this fixed and have the film still be shown that evening. Apparently this was not possible and the best he could do was to show it the next day, Monday. This did me and the everyone else little good as we all had work and I told him as much.

    Look, technical problems happen ALL THE TIME in this industry---it's just a fact of life ... but the total lack of any sort of apology and the appearance that this situation just wasn't really a big deal really ticked me off. It felt totally disrespectful.

    The film never was shown that night and, as far as I know, the film didn't show on Monday,either as I was never contacted nor ever saw evidence that actually happened. We were lucky to get our tickets refunded, however.

    I wrote the festival an e-mail detailing the situation and asked if I could get my entry fee back since the film never was shown. They responded a week later with "Sorry, we tried." They also couldn't refund me my entry fee since this apparently can only be done through FilmFreeway ... but they did send me a coupon voucher for 5 free nights at a Mexican hotel timeshare (?) for my troubles. I'm still trying to figure that one out...

    I really wish I had a different story to share other than this one. Filmmakers beware. Would not recommend.

    January 2019
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    Response from festival:

    Sorry to hear about your experience. FYI, we did play your film next day as promised and what you got is a real $1500 travel vacation not a timeshare. Thank you.

  • Gibbous EDGE Group

    Very nice festival. Looking forward to attending in years to come!

    January 2019
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  • Janice Corran

    Great festival. Highly recommend it.

    January 2019
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