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 third year we are screening in Los Angeles. Check our website for details.

We are honored to present three prize packages from InkTip, a service for writers and filmmakers to promote their work to a large network of producers and reps. Companies who are InkTip members include: 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.

This year we have added a Short Screenplay written word category, and we will award $100 USD to the winning submission in that category.

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!

Awards & Prizes

Best Drama
Best Comedy
Best Experimental
Best Documentary
Best Music Video
Best Animation
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 Short Screenplay

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 be produced after January 1, 2018.

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.

California Filmmakers are for films produced in the state of California, USA.

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 third 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!
13 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Jonni Masella

    Fantastic festival team!! A completely positive experience. I extremely appreciated the personal touch they use in every email. Sadly I was unable to attend but would highly recommend this festival! Looking forward to participating again.

    November 2019
    Helpful
  • 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
    Helpful
  • 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
    Logo
    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
    Helpful
    Logo
    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!