The Fargo Film Festival is the premier annual moving picture event in the state of North Dakota. Featuring more than 100 movies every March, the five day festival takes place at the historic Fargo Theatre, a beautiful, 870-seat art deco movie palace equipped with a Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ.

The Fargo Film Festival showcases work from all over the world and routinely programs movies that go on to receive distribution. In recent years, the festival has hosted several Oscar-nominated filmmakers and many Oscar-nominated films.

The festival's Ted M. Larson Award honors individuals who have demonstrated outstanding, longtime contributions to film education, film production, film culture, and/or film criticism and history. Recipients of the Ted M. Larson Award include George A. Romero, John Waters, Molly Ringwald, Hal Hartley, Cary Elwes, Don Hertzfeldt, Janet Leigh, Richard Edlund, and Leonard Maltin.

Awards & Prizes

The Fargo Film Festival names winners in each of its eight categories and also honors films and filmmakers with several special awards.

Rules & Terms

Movies must be submitted electronically through the FilmFreeway. No physical media, including DVD and Blu-ray, are accepted as submission copies.

If selected, submitters are required to provide a file of their movie in DCP format, the industry standard for theatrical exhibition. With the exception of 2-Minute Movie Contest selections, DCP is the only accepted exhibition format of the Fargo Film Festival.

Moviemakers must provide a high-resolution image from their movie.

Movies must have been completed after January 1, 2023.

Moviemakers are responsible for obtaining all necessary rights and releases for public screening of their work.

72 Reviews
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Value
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  • Gisela Chicolino

    We are very delighted to be selected as an agency with one Latin American films from our catalog. Please keep working on generating this exquisite programming for the audiences. @films.to.festivals

    May 2025
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  • Emilio Miguel Torres

    Fargo Film Festival is an absolute gem for any independent filmmaker. I stumbled upon it via FilmFreeway and decided to submit, and once accepted I began to realize how special this festival is. Fargo Film Festival is run by a big team of dedicated volunteers and theatre workers and serves as a sort of annual celebration for the historic Fargo Theatre (celebrating its 100th year in 2026), and the local film and arts community are so jazzed and excited about Fargo FF that it really makes you feel special for making it out as a selected filmmaker. I would encourage any filmmaker to submit and to make it to the fest if possible. Great schedule where you can watch amazing films and then connect with filmmakers at various festival-organized events, and a local community of artistic supporters and students that will make you feel super at home. It's a gorgeous screening venue with great food within walking distance. My only regret was not being able to stay for the entire festival! Excited to see the Fargo team continue to grow this amazing festival and look forward to submitting in the future!

    April 2025
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  • Rachel Kerry

    A truly wonderful experience!! The Fargo Film Festival is a really special festival that I would recommend every filmmaker apply to. The festival organizers treated me with care and consideration, there were really excellent panels to attend, and the movies screen in a GORGEOUS historic cinema. And of course, the audience! It was so inspiring to see my horror comedy short film screen in a movie theatre packed with the enthusiastic and engaged residents of Fargo, North Dakota. What a dream! I hope to come back!!

    April 2025
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  • Clare O'Connor

    This was my second time attending the Fargo Film Festival, and once again I had an absolute blast. From a handwritten card upon arrival to multiple filmmaker events and meals and afterparties, they really prioritize the filmmaker experience. The Fargo Theatre itself, as a venue, is absolutely stunning inside and out, and it was a treat to get to screen my short, KIND MOTHER, there this past March. Emily Beck, the executive director, is such a kind person and she is surrounded by a team of kind, talented, hardworking staff and volunteers; this ripples out into every aspect of the experience as a filmmaker. Great attendance at the festival, too, even for morning screenings, and the local audiences were so engaged and had interesting questions at our Q&A. Fargo as a city is also just really fun to visit! Don't miss the famous Chippers (chocolate-covered potato chips) from Widman's Candy!

    April 2025
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  • Richard Wareham / Grüntyers

    Smashing.
    Its just great that there are festivals like this and people who take the time to organise them. You are the conduits of creativity. It was an honour to have had "The Story of Keith" as part of it.

    April 2025
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