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!

Awards & Prizes

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
Audience Choice Award

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, 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!
5 Reviews
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Networking
  • Jim Warne

    We were honored with two awards for our film "7th Generation" at the Inaugural CDFF!! The team and hosts for the festival were great. Thanks very much for supporting independent filmmakers and culture and diversity in the world. Pilamaya (thank you).

    October 2018
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you Jim it was our great pleasure to screen your film and we're honored that you and your family were able to attend. "7th Generation" touched us all deeply and we wish all the best for this promising generation of Lakota youth. Keep making great films and we hope to see you again soon!

  • Koura Linda

    We were unable to attend the festival, but they were so incredibly awesome about staying in touch, keeping us updated, and even answering our emails in the middle of the festival!!
    We won in two categories, and they offered to ship us the certificates - just very professional and well-run.

    October 2018
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you Koura we're honored you chose our festival for your beautiful film "Names on the Wall" and we hope to see more of your work!

  • Yareen Avni

    Thank you it was a pleasure to be a part of this amazing event

    October 2018
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you Yareen we enjoyed screening your film and the lively Q&A which followed. We appreciate your support as a local filmmaker and hope to see your work again soon!

  • Maribel Apuya

    This is a wonderful film festival held at the beautiful town of Cotati, CA. Great films shown of diversity and culture. The organizer, Tim Mooney, and others, Kirk Ryde, were greatly hospitable. There’s also a savvy & filmed Q&A after the screening which is a lot of fun! Thank you CDFF for having us.

    October 2018
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you Maribel we appreciate your support of our festival and so glad you were able to attend. Your film "Filipina" is really wonderful, and we hope to see more of your work!

  • Moira Rowan

    This is a wonderful festival, the communication was superb from start to finish - the organizers went the extra mile to make sure that our film was presented in the best possible light. Unfortunately we were unable to attend, so it was great to hear that our short film 'Get Riel' had won the audience choice award, thank you so much.

    October 2018
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you Moira we're honored that you chose our festival for your film and very happy that you had a good experience with us. "Get Riel" is an inspiration. Keep doing what you do and we hope to see your work again in the future!