The Denver Underground Film Festival premiered on November 21, 22 & 23, 1997 as a showcase for independent filmmakers from Colorado and beyond.

Inspired by the Sunday film parlors organized by Colorado's own Avant Garde filmmaker and film educator Stan Brakhage, DUFF aims to preserve Colorado's legacy of experimental filmmaking by engaging audiences with classic Avant Garde cinema and new independent short and features.

Awards & Prizes

First, second and third places in each category, Best of Fest and Honorable Mentions.

Rules & Terms

DUFF is open to filmmakers from Colorado and all over the world with films in the following categories via web download, external drives or DVD:

Only Short films will me considered for entry. No feature length films.
- up to 10 minutes running time.
- No screener files over 2 gigabytes in size.

Narrative
- Comedy
- Drama
- Science Fiction
- Horror

Animation
Documentaries
Experimental Shorts

Festival Rules and Guidelines
Please ensure you read our Rules and Regulation prior to submitting.

Festival entry rules.

1) Submissions must include an entry fee and a completed online entry form. Entry fees are not refundable. All films must be in English or have English subtitles.

2) Please provide a download link for your film through enabling the download option on FilmFreeway or through a third party online storage option such a Vimeo or Dropbox. Please submit files under 2 gigabytes in size.

3) Films currently available online, that have previously participated in festivals,
or have US or world distribution are allowed to participate and are eligible for competition.

4) DUFF reserves the right to use any portion or still of the film for promotional or advertisement purposes on print, video, online, for the official program or other media.

5) You are responsible for securing all permissions and releases for music, visual media and actors' performances included in your film.

6) DUFF reserves the right to reject any submission without entry fee refund that we may deem inappropriate, contains hate speech, is libelous or detrimental to an individual or group, is deemed to have plagiarized a known body of work or at DUFF's
discretion. Films that do not provide a screening file will not be considered.

37 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Elijah Bigler

    Incredibly honored to have my film "Canyon Light" shown and nominated for three awards. Hoping in the next year that communication is a little more streamlined so I can attend, but those looking for truly independent festivals for avant-garde shorts have a home here.

    December 2025
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  • barbara peikert

    A great opportunity to showcase 1000 O at DUFF! I am very grateful for the support given to experimental films and apologize for not being able to attend.

    December 2025
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  • Scott Bateman

    I love this festival! Thank you so much.

    December 2025
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  • Jon Sargent

    I appreciate the opportunity to screen my film, Puppet Camino, at the Denver Underground Film Festival. Being able to share that with others in the community is a great privilege. It's awesome that there is a forum for more avant-garde type of films that may not have a voice in typical settings. Having volunteered at film festivals myself, I'm aware of the team of people and the time they put in to make the event successful. I do feel like the festival needs to improve when it comes to communication. The schedule was not posted until hours before the festival actually began. There were no social media posts announcing that a festival was even happening until the day it opened. I had emailed the festival twice before that because I needed to know ahead of time the schedule in order to be able to attend as well as invite others. Given I didn't hear back until the evening the festival opened and with no information online prior to that, I didn't even think the festival was going to happen. By the time the festival lineup was announced, it was too late for me to arrange my schedule or invite other people to go. I do compliment the festival in assembling a great lineup of films. That's why it was so frustrating that the lack of communication created barriers for me and others from attending. I hope that will improve in the future so the festival can achieve it's fullest potential.

    December 2025
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  • John Brennan

    An amazing festival! Highly recommended!

    December 2025
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