Durango Independent Film Festival dba Durango Film

The 16th Durango Independent Film Festival is an early spring destination festival cultivating a reputation as a filmmaker’s festival. Located in picturesque southwestern Colorado, filmmakers will enjoy staying within walking distance of two of three venues, fine restaurants, boutiques, brew pubs, art galleries, and historic Victorian hotels. Durango offers many recreational diversions such as the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge train and early spring skiing at nearby Purgatory Ski Resort. In addition to festival parties, we host nightly gatherings in the private filmmaker’s lounge with complementary beverages such as our own festival beer artfully brewed by SKA Brewing.

*** FESTIVAL UPDATE: We are no longer optimistic that we will be able to present a theatrical Festival. The theatre we planned to use for our in-person 2021 screenings notified the Festival on November 17, 2020, that they cannot guarantee they will be open for Festival screenings in early March. We plan to reconnect with the theatre on January 2, 2021 to see if in-theatre screenings may be possible but it does not look promising as our area is spiking with COVID cases. Therefore, we are moving forward in planning a virtual festival event, with a very slim possibility to have a few smaller screenings in the theatre. We will be socially responsible in these unpredictable times and with vaccines on the horizon, will definitely be in-person for our festival in 2022. We have decided to extend our online festival to a 10-day event, beginning March 3, so that our film-loving audience has enough time to watch films at their leisure. We will continue to champion the art of independent filmmaking and will showcase your film in the best possible way.

We have signed the 2020 Festival Survival Pledge. We have no premiere status requirements. Therefore, if your film has screened in an online film festival event, your film will be given the same consideration as all other submitted films.

If any live screenings can be held, we will not be in a position to show all selected films in the theatre, therefore, the festival retains the right to make the decision which films may be included for in-person screenings. Our Festival takes place in late winter/early spring and a Drive-In is not recommended for this time of year. There are opportunities for filmmakers to participate in virtual Q&A sessions and Panels. Each year, our festival seeks out an eclectic mix of narrative features, documentaries, and short films. We seek all genres of film including: Adventure, LGBTQ, Native Cinema, and Family. We also curate creative films suitable for students of all ages for our REEL Learning School Program.