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.

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

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.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • A great showcase for truly independent experimental films!

    November 2023
  • Frank Jean Fazzio

    I’m sorry we could not attend the festival this year. However, we were honored to have our film, Common Thread screened and working with Ed was a great experience. See you next time.

    November 2022
  • DUFF has everything you look for in a small festival with deep roots and convictions in favour of underground cinema: a team that loves what it does and puts its soul into it. First time a film of ours has taken part in DUFF and it has been an electrifying experience to win one of the Honourable Mentions. DUFF fans!

    November 2022
  • Jackson Meltzer

    Thrilled that our film "COWBOYS" was an award winner for the Best Narrative Short and Best Cinematography categories. Thank you so much to Eduardo and the rest of the DUFF team! Sad we were not able to attend this year's festival, but will definitely be submitting again for 2023.

    November 2022
  • Gwendolyn Audrey Foster

    I am especially honored to have my work shown at DUFF. So humbled and honored that my short FILM FOR STORM DE HIRSCH was run at DUFF in 2021. Extremely honored in 2020 to win an award at DUFF for my short film MASS FOR SHUT-INS, an abstract handpainted direct cinema 16mm short. THANKS for supporting underground experimental filmmaking and abstract avant-garde film art! DUFF is a top ranking underground film festival!

    December 2021