Florida Film Festival

"The Florida Film Festival gets it right by every metric you can think of." - John Wildman, Festworks

Regarded as one of the finest film festivals in the U.S., the Florida Film Festival is an annual showcase for the best in American Independent and Foreign Cinema.

This 10 day celebration of filmmakers and their art includes an Oscar® accredited American Independent Film Competition for features, docs, shorts, and animation, along with an International Showcase, Spotlight Films (those already with distribution), Midnight Movies, Music Films, Food Films, Florida Films, VR/AR, New Media/Web, Secret Screenings, Tributes, Special Guests, Panels & Forums, parties, and more.

Hosted by the historic Enzian Theater in Maitland (Orlando), Florida. The Florida Film Festival has been named "one of the top 50 festivals" by indieWIRE, and one of the top 10 festivals in the world by festival guru Chris Gore in his book, The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide, 2nd Edition. Nestled in at number eight (alongside such prestigious events as Sundance, Toronto, Cannes, Berlin, and SXSW), the Festival continues to showcase the best in American independent and foreign cinema.

MovieMaker Magazine named the FFF one the "50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee" in 2014, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2026, and one of the "Coolest Film Festivals in the World" in 2013.

In October 2022 FFF was also named "40 Great Festivals to Find Your Film a Home" by MovieMaker Magazine.

In October 2023 FFF was named "20 Great film Festivals in Vacation Destinations" by MovieMaker Magazine

In 2025, FFF was named of the "90 Best Genre Film Festivals on Earth" by Dread Central.

The Florida Film Festival is a qualifying festival for the Oscars® in all three shorts categories: Live Action, Animated, and Documentary.

The winners of the Grand Jury Awards for Best Short in those categories will qualify to enter the Live Action Short Film, Animated Short Film, and Documentary Short Film categories of the next year’s Academy Awards®*.

* For more information about the Academy's qualifying and eligibility rules please see https://www.oscars.org/oscars/rules-eligibility

In recent years, special guests and forum hosts included Justice Smith, Paul Giamatti, Jorma Taccone, Judge Reinhold, Christina Ricci, Mia Farrow, Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, John Cleese, Lori Singer, John Cusack, William Shatner, Isabella Rosselini, Karen Allen, Joe Bob Briggs, Richard Dreyfuss, Joshua Leonard, Cynthia Wade, Jennette McCurdy, Ellen Burstyn, Pam Grier, Don Mancini, Billy Crudup, Lea Thompson, David Zucker, AnnaLynne McCord, Sissy Spacek, Mark Duplass, Sam Rockwell, Bob Balaban, Susan Sarandon, Giancarlo Esposito, Paul Sorvino, Tippi Hedren, Zoe Bell, Cary Elwes, Barry Levinson, Cloris Leachman, Glenn Close, Ken Russell, Jon Voight, Emma Stone, Kieran Culkin, Edward James Olmos, Allison Anders, Gabriel Byrne, Jason Lee, Joe Pantoliano, Ed Burns, Campbell Scott, James Caan, Alan Rudolph, Leelee Sobieski, Peter Falk, Judy Greer, Peter Bogdanovich, Chazz Palminteri, John Waters, Joan Chen, Anthony Bourdain, Jennifer Tilly, Malcolm McDowell, and Mary Stuart Masterston. Past years' guests include Oliver Stone, Gena Rowlands, Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, Steve Buscemi, and William H. Macy. Festival seminars have included such film industry notables as Bingham Ray, Victor Nunez and Blair Witch creators Dan Myrick and Ed Sanchez; cinematographers Haskell Wexler and Bill Butler; animators Bill Plympton and Corky Quakenbush; screenwriters Shane Black, Mike Werb and Guinevere Turner; distributors Bob Berney and Tom Prassis; and producers Gale Anne Hurd, Mike Medavoy, and Roger Corman.