Over the years, The Golden Eagle Film Festival has celebrated the work of our students at the Cal State LA filmmaking community! With this being Cal State LA’s 27th annual Golden Eagle Film Festival, we want this festival to be a wonderful event, and it is open to all students, alumni, faculty, and staff! The festival will be held from April 27th - April 30th in the USU theater and TVFM Center. Work submitted to the film festival will be a fantastic opportunity for filmmakers to gain experience with professional identity and exposure to work.

Awards & Prizes

The Golden Eagle Film Festival will offer "Best Of" awards in the categories listed below, including special awards for technical and creative abilities.

Eagle Con Award (Presented by ADG)
Reel Rasquache Award

Best Fiction Short
Best Nonfiction Short
Best Animated Short
Best Feature
Best Experimental
Best Re-creation
Best of Genre (Comedy, Horror, Drama)
Best Director
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Production Design
Best Screenplay
Best Sound
Best Editing
Best Visual Effects/Special Effects
Audience Choice Award (“The Eddie”)
Best Actor/Actress (Leading and Supporting)
Best Score
Artivist Award

The list of awards is subject to change based on submissions received.

Rules & Terms

*By submitting your work to the Golden Eagle Film Festival you are agreeing that your work may be shown and considered for awards if selected*

Submitted films must be original and have the proper clearances for all materials it is using.
Submissions are open to Cal State LA students, alumni, faculty, and staff.

All non-English submissions must provide subtitles.
Short film submissions must be under 25 minutes.
Microfilm submissions are permitted: 30 seconds to 3 minutes.

There is a limit of two films per director, and they must have a modified press kit (Poster, Logline, and Trailer) to be eligible.

Submitted scripts must be original work. Script submissions must be limited between 8-12 pages long.
6 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Lauren Holiday

    I'm honored they've chosen to include my screenwriting as part of the festival. The table read and Q & A were well cast and presented. Thanks for making me feel so welcome and taken care of!

    May 2026
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  • Eliza Kim

    Very honored to have received both Best Writer and Best Experimental for my documentary short film 38 Parallel in 2026.

    April 2026
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  • Angel Azcona

    It a very valuable experience, you meet new faces from other filmmakers during the event which expands your connections. All of my crew members from project to project came entirely from this school. Everything the festival states about themself is true, I would recommend

    April 2025
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  • Omar Sandoval

    I had such a great time for my first festival. Everyone was very organized and helpful. It was such an honor to have been nominated for two categories. Thank you to the GEFF Team and everyone else who was involved in this festival. I appreciate the honest reviews as well. It was legit. See you next year!

    May 2024
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  • Maya Garcia-Luis

    I’m an animation student that attended (and also had a film screened) and this was such a lovely event! All the people were helpful, there was clear communication, clear updates, amazing panels and I got to meet such wonderful people!
    If you’re a student that attends CalStateLA and needs more connections or just wants to have fun I highly recommend attending 😸

    May 2024
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