Welcome to the Culture & Diversity Film Festival! We embrace the world. From the Filmmaker Meet & Greet to our Interviews, Q&A Sessions and Awards Ceremony, we honor the filmmakers and foster a sense of community among the those who create and those who appreciate the artistic expression of our diverse human lives on film.

We are an IMDb qualifying festival. We accept a broad range of genres and artistic approaches. Narrative films, docs, animation, experimental, music videos, new media and photography are all welcome!

Our purpose is to help bring positive voices to the world. We believe that when we experience films from a variety of cultures, we can increase our understanding of our shared humanity, and this understanding is a pathway to global peace and harmony. We support the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Visit https://sdgs.un.org/goals for a detailed description of each goal. Most projects that are made with a desire it impact the world in a positive way will support one or more of these goals, and we look forward to receiving your submission!

We began at the world famous Redwood Cafe in Cotati, CA and then moved to Raleigh Studios in Los Angeles. This year, we are screening at the historic 4-Star Theater in San Francisco in the heart of the Richmond District, a vibrant community located between Golden Gate Park and the Presidio of San Francisco. This theater is an artistic gathering place with many live music and film screening events, and lots to see and do nearby.

Join us for CDFF 2026! We look forward to receiving your project!

Awards & Prizes

Best Drama
Best Comedy
Best Experimental
Best Documentary
Best Music Video
Best Animation
Best New Media
Best International Film
Best Short Film
Best Short Short
Best Director
Best Original Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Original Score
Best Sound Design
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Ensemble
Best Young Filmmaker
Best California Filmmaker
Best Socially Conscious Film
Best Inspirational Film
Audience Choice Award
Best Black & White Photography
Best Color Photography

Rules & Terms

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 produced after January 1, 2024. Photographs must be created after January 1, 2024.

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

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 may make exceptions for music videos, short shorts, and new media.

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 at least 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.

California Filmmakers are for films produced in the state of California, USA, and for which the submitter is a resident of California per their bio on FilmFreeway.

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. You agree to provide us with a screener in the format requested, including a DCP if requested.

Film programming and screening times are at the sole discretion of the festival. In this our fifth year we are programming primarily films under 30 minutes in length.

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!
33 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Jose Restrepo

    An excellent, well run, festival. Thank you for being so professional and kind. An amazing opportunity to feel seen and heard.

    August 2021
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  • Jeff Suttles

    We feel really blessed to have been apart of the festival!

    August 2021
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  • marianne george

    CDFF was an amazing and excellent experience from pre-submission inquiries to post-festival networking. This festival is true to purpose and full of heart and understanding of both culture and diversity. The We, the Voyagers: Our Moana crew feels deeply grateful and connected with CDFF and all the filmmakers whose outstanding works were presented. THANK YOU!

    August 2021
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  • Megan Ebor

    From start to finish the CDFF was exceptional!!! The festival director was very friendly and responsive. I look forward to submitting my future projects to CDFF. What an awesome platform to share film projects that are diverse and mission driven.

    August 2021
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  • Catherine Veilleux

    My experience with this festival was really good at all levels. It was a great opportunity to connect with other film makers, and they were well organised, even with a part of the festival online. So gratefull to be included in this film festival.

    August 2021
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