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 to our Interviews, Q&A Sessions and 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.

We are a traveling festival. Our founding venue in 2018 was the world famous Redwood Cafe in beautiful Cotati, California, a tour stop for Grammy Award winning music artists and home of the acoustic music series hosted by Santa Rosa's KRSH Radio. Our 2019 venue was the historic Raleigh Studios Mary Pickford Theatre in Hollywood, CA. In 2020, for health and safety reasons in view of COVID-19, our festival was held online with filmmakers from all over the world participating in virtual events and Q&A sessions. In 2021 we hope that the health concerns are behind us all and we're back in a theater! Check our website for updates.

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.

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

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, 2019.

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 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 fourth 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!
24 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • diana dai

    It's a great festival. Kirk is excellent.

    October 2020
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  • Veronica Robledo

    The best experience! Kirk was so easy going and welcoming. The festival is a great way to network and be recognized for your hard work and passion. Thank you CDFF!

    October 2020
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  • AndrĂ© Kloer

    It was for me a great experience to be part of this festival. Well organised and very friendly and professional staff. Warm memories!

    October 2020
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you André! We were honored to screen your stellar film "Holding Silence" and really enjoyed getting to know you. Hope to see more of your work!

  • La'Chris Jordan

    This was an amazing festival! It was put together very well and super organized. Kirk and his team are so welcoming and I encourage filmmakers to put this particular film festival on your radar. The Q&As were thoughtful and not rushed (Ashley was a perfect moderator and host). And thanks so much for voting our film JANUARY 14TH for Best California Filmmaker!!!

    October 2020
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you La'Chris! We really enjoyed your getting to know you and your team at the festival this year and screening "January 14th." Your vision and commitment is truly exceptional and we hope to see you all again soon!

  • Chantal Kassarjian

    I would like to thank the whole team behind the Culture & Diversity Film Festival, especially Kirk Ryde who kept an open line of communication with all the filmmakers, sending us regular updates and tailoring the Q&A time to our schedules, to ensure we could all participate and connect with each other! I love the way this festival's meaningful focus on culture and diversity brings together storytellers from around the globe, allowing them to share their interesting and important message about humanity and inclusivity.

    October 2020
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you Chantal! It was wonderful to screen your beautiful project "Recipe in Exile" and to learn more about you and your work at the Q&A session. Keep making these films which are so important to our world! We hope to see you again!