Culture & Diversity Film Festival

Welcome to the Culture & Diversity Film Festival! We celebrate the films that celebrate you!

The Culture & Diversity Film Festival rejoices in the many colors of our lives and our world by showcasing a diverse selection of films from around the globe.

From the Filmmaker Meet & Greet on opening night to the closing night Awards Ceremony, we honor the filmmakers and foster a sense of community and camaraderie among the those who create and those who appreciate the artistic expression of our diverse human lives on film.

Our founding venue is the world famous Redwood Cafe in beautiful Cotati, California, a place for great food, great music, great company, and great film too! The music concert series at the Cafe attracts world famous artists such as Grammy Award Winners Black Uhuru and blues legend Coco Montoya. Stellar acoustic acts perform regularly courtesy of Santa Rosa's KRSH Radio program director Andre De Channes, and the Cafe is famous for the Celtic Fiddle Music and Irish Jam Sessions every Sunday.

In this our second year we are screening in Los Angeles. Check our website for details.

We are giving away three free listings on InkTip, a service for writers and filmmakers to promote their work to a large network of reputable production companies including: ABC, Anonymous Content, APA, CBS Films, HBO Films, ICM, Paradigm, Paramount Pictures, Hallmark Channel, FX, Universal, WME, Echo Lake, Zero Gravity, Bad Robot, and 20th Century Fox. Visit our website for more details.

We cordially invite you to be a part of our festival, and experience a celebration of our lives and our world!

We look forward to your submission!

Best Drama
Best Comedy
Best Experimental
Best Documentary
Best Music Video
Best International Film
Best Short Film
Best Short Short
Best Director
Best Original Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Original Score
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Ensemble
Best Young Filmmaker
Best Local Filmmaker
Best Socially Conscious Film
Best Inspirational Film
Audience Choice Award

Submitting your film does not guarantee festival acceptance or screening. Acceptance by the festival does not guarantee award or prize. Submission fees are nonrefundable. We reserve the right to program films at our sole discretion.

Films must be produced after January 1, 2017.

Films that have dialogue must include English dialogue or English subtitles.

All films must be independently produced and financed.

We do not screen films that are publicly available online. If your film is online it must be behind a password and available for private viewing only.

We reserve the right to determine the eligibility of any project. We screen and evaluate all submissions, and our decisions are final and confidential.

Young Filmmakers must be over 15 years of age and under 21 years of age at the time film is submitted. This category is for short films of a duration less than 20 minutes only.

Local Filmmakers must be residents of Sonoma County, California USA for at least six months prior to the opening date of the festival.

We reserve the right to reject or disqualify any ineligible entries without issuing a refund. Please read our submission policy carefully!

If you withdraw your film from the festival, we will not be liable to refund any submission fee.

We do not return any materials submitted.

If your film has been officially selected, you agree to provide us with a poster or promotional images and/or stills, as well as a logline and/or synopsis, for promotional purposes.

Film programming and screening times are at the sole discretion of the festival. In this our second year we are programming primarily films under 30 minutes in length. Animation may be submitted to any category.

You are solely responsible for obtaining all of the necessary rights and permissions for third-party materials included in your film, including but not limited to music, trademarks, logos, copyrights, and other intellectual property rights. The Culture & Diversity Film Festival expressly disclaims all liability or responsibility for any violations of the foregoing.

We do not grant fee waivers, as our submission fees are already very low. Thank you!

Overall Rating

Quality

Value

Communication

Hospitality

Networking

Neeru Khera

The festival team is extremely professional as well as warm. The communication was excellent and on time. A big THANK YOU. Hope to attend the festival next time.

October 2019

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Neil George

I was honored to have one of my films selected to screen at the festival. Tim and his team did a great job communicating each step and the fact it screened at the Raleigh studios in Hollywood was some real bonus news!
I was even more honored that my film won Best short film!
Unfortunately I was unable to attend but from all accounts it looked like a very successful festival with some great films showing, so big thanks and congratulations to the team and all other film makers!

October 2019

Helpful
Noel McIntyre

Where do I start! Well lets start with a five star rating in all areas, WOW, I travelled over from Ireland and these guys made me feel right at home from the very outset. What a fantastic experience I had at this festival. I met loads of great people and made important contacts. The entire team at this festival are focused on celebrating the arts and wonderful filmmakers from around the world who are passionate about filmmaking. I simply cannot recommend these guys highly enough. Highly recommended.

October 2019

Helpful

Response from festival:

Thank you so much for your kind words Noel. It means a lot to us that you traveled all the way from Ireland to attend the festival and we're very happy that you enjoyed the experience. You brought a positive energy that lifted the spirits of every event you attended. We admire your film "I Created You" and it was our pleasure to screen it. We look forward to seeing your future work!
Giovannie Espiritu

Such a great film festival to have the first one for my short film! The festival organizers were just that - organized! They were so communicative and prompt, super friendly and curated a diverse array of films.

October 2019

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Response from festival:

Thank you Giovannie it was our pleasure to screen your film "ALLY 3000" and we're very pleased that you enjoyed the festival. We hope to see more of your work in the future!
Pat Battistini

Can't say enough great things about this festival. Kirk, Nikki, and Tim went above and beyond with their communications and efforts to make sure every screening was awesome. I saw some wonderful films and met some talented local filmmakers as well as great filmmakers from around the globe. Thanks again, everyone! We hope to be back!

October 2019

Helpful

Response from festival:

Thank you Pat we're grateful that you chose our festival for your film "Tin Can" and it was our pleasure to get to know you and your cast & crew. We're very happy that you enjoyed the experience and we look forward to seeing your future work!