NEW CATEGORIES AND AWARDS – PLUS CONTENT CREATORS WELCOMED! We are excited to be celebrating the 20th Durango Independent Film Festival (DIFF)! DIFF boasts a reputation as a “Filmmaker’s Festival” – in part due to our championing the art of independent filmmaking – showcasing your film in the best possible way – but also because of the active engagement of our friendly, film-fan community, the warm hospitality we offer here in a quaint southwest Colorado town, and because it’s beloved! As one filmmaker remarked this year, “DIFF is one of the most joyful, well-organized festivals we have had the pleasure to attend! It’s truly a festival where the filmmakers are celebrated!”
If your film is selected and you come to Durango, we give you a night’s lodging, All-Fest Passes, access to private events, Q&As following both of your film’s two screenings, and you are invited to participate in Community Coffee Talks with Filmmakers. Great networking opportunities abound day and night.
Filmmakers enjoy staying within walking distance of our two downtown theater venues, plus great restaurants, boutiques, brew pubs, art galleries, and historic Western Everything. And there’s also the star of many a feature film: the legendary Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge train. Throw in skiing if you have time! Beyond our outstanding Festival parties, we host nightly gatherings in the private filmmaker’s lounge with an open bar – including our own Festival Beer – artfully brewed each year by Durango’s own SKA Brewing.
Our Festival annually welcomes an eclectic mix of narrative features, documentaries, and short films – both animated and live action. We seek out all genres including Adventure, LGBTQ, Native Cinema, and Family. This year we are inviting Nature, Comedy and Music films to join the fray. For the first time, we are inviting online Content Creators to compete side-by-side with more traditional filmmakers (must be made this year and in a horizontal format with high enough rez to screen in a theater). We also curate creative films suitable for students of all ages for our REEL Learning School Program. Please submit your film to ONE CATEGORY only. Our team leaders will alert other teams should they feel a different category provides a better fit. If the jury feels no film merits an award in a particular category, no award will be given in that genre.

Awards & Prizes

This is a juried film Festival with both juror and audience award presentations:

Jury Awards
Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature
Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature
Jury Award for Best Short Documentary
Jury Award for Best Narrative Short
Jury Award for Best Animated Short
Jury Award for Best Adventure Film
Jury Award for Best Native Cinema Film
Jury Award for Best Comedy Film
Jury Award for Best Music Film (musical or documentary)
Jury Award for Best Nature Film (non-adventure)
Jury Award for Best Performance in the Narrative Features category

Audience Awards
Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature
Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature
Audience Award for Best Narrative Short
Audience Award for Best Documentary Short
Audience Award for Best Native Cinema film
Audience Award for Best Adventure film
Audience Award for Best Comedy Film
Audience Award for Best Music Film (musical or documentary)
Audience Award for Best Nature Film (non-adventure)
Audience Award for Best Family film
Audience Award for Best REEL Learning film (votes by students)

Rules & Terms

UPDATED: Please submit to ONE category only, otherwise you will be charged for each category you include. Please select the best category that fits your film's subject/genre. Our programming teams share films that can fit in more than one category so please choose only one. We will NOT process refunds if you choose to submit to more than one category.
Please no requests for submission fee waivers. Alumni filmmakers may contact the Festival for a waiver code for one submission.
If submitting a work-in-progress, your cut must be received prior to the Early Bird Deadline and final completed work must be received by October 31, 2023.
For exhibition formats, BluRays are accepted for back-up purposes only and are not used in presentations.
Please notify the Festival if your film will be shared, online, broadcast on cable or network television, or released for download sale or on DVD prior to the beginning of the Festival.
Please note that two of our three screens are DCP-compatible. Our other screen will use .mov and .mp4 file formats. If your film is selected, you will be notified as to the required format the Festival will accept based upon venue location.
Durango Film will only return ship to domestic destinations, including domestic film festival destinations.
Selected films will not be paid a screening fee. Films that require a screening fee are not eligible for either a juried or audience award. All films will screen twice, in theatres, during the Festival and filmmakers will be notified by mid-January 2024 when both screenings have been scheduled.

65 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Rick Minnich

    My short documentary "The Presidents' Tailor" screened at the 2025 festival. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend in person. I was, however, very impressed by the festival staff from the moment I received my acceptance letter. Communication was always clear and friendly. They were super organised and provided a clear schedule of deadlines for submitting various materials months in advance. They were also helpful in trying to coordinate my travel arrangements when it looked like I might still be able to attend in person.

    While I can't comment on how the festival was on the ground, if it was anything like what I experienced during the lead-up, it must have been an excellent event. Hopefully I can attend with my next film.

    March 2025
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  • Carrie Wachob

    One of the best festivals I've attended. They take great care of the filmmakers, the community are vibrant supporters, and you can't beat the epic natural surroundings. (There's a steam powered train that takes you through the mountains, too!)

    March 2025
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  • H. Nelson Tracey

    Definitely worth the submission! Durango is a film festival run by a tight knit core of volunteers, most of whom have been with the festival for its entire 20 year lifespan, and you can feel a palpable sense of community in every screening and event. They sold out many shows and brought a stellar lineup of programming. As a filmmaker I felt very well taken care of from the moment I stepped off the plane at the Durango airport. Plus, one of the most fun bonus perks of the festival was that they set up a chance to ride on a steam train through the Colorado mountains, an experience you'll only get at this festival. Submit your films here for sure and attend if you get in!

    March 2025
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  • Jerry White Jr.

    Thank you Durango!! This was a fantastic fest in a gorgeous location. They curate a wonderful experience for their filmgoing audience as well as the filmmakers in attendance. I was there for the whole span of the festival and there was always something to do, be it a screening or panel or party or networking event or casual hang.

    Film festivals like this are few and far between and when they've been doing it this long you feel the dedication and love. I met a lot of festival alumni who were back with new films or back to just support the fest and be part of the experience—that says a LOT. See you next time DIFF!

    March 2025
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  • Eric Frost-Barnes

    The Durango Independent Film Festival was fantastic! One of my very favorite experiences. Their communication and hospitality was amazing and the city of Durango really takes great care of you. Submit, go, repeat!

    March 2025
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