Last year, I concocted the idea of the 1st Gowanda Film Festival. At the time, I was in my spring semester of my first year at university. After receiving enthusiastic approval from the Hollywood Theater board, I went to work coordinating the event. I had no experience in doing anything of the sort. At times, I thought I was in over my head. But as the submissions from the very talented filmmakers began to roll in, excitement replaced my anxiety. The date of the festival arrived and now after the final frames have flickered across the screen, I can declare the 1st Gowanda Film Festival a success. With that, I now look forward to this year’s festival. Once more, the Historic Hollywood Theater (having undergone some truly beautiful renovations) welcomes local and distant filmmakers alike to submit their works for the 2020 Gowanda Film Festival. Last year’s festival allowed me to meet some very talented artists and for the community to see what they were capable of. We now offer that opportunity again. I am thrilled to see what’s to come. Thank you and good luck!

-Quentin Jarzynski

Awards and prizes for the filmmakers will be annouced

All films must have had a completion date of no earlier than January 1st, 2016.
Films can be submitted into one or more of the following categories:
Youth (12 and younger)
Official Selection
Separate categories may be created as films are submitted.
Films will be monitored before the screening to ensure that they are appropriate for their specific categories. There are no explicit content restrictions, but the option to screen your films is left to the discretion of the board. This is not to limit the ability of the filmmakers, but rather so that proper content warnings can be issued when necessary.
If your film is a school project, it must be able to stand on its own. This meaning that it must be appropriate in the context of a true film and not within the context of the project it was made for.
Films are not limited by duration restrictions. Shorter films are preferred. If your film exceeds a length of 45 minutes, it may be screened separately of other films in the category. A limited amount of feature length films can be screened. In the case that feature length submissions are in abundance, only a select few will be screened. All, however, will be judged. Youth films should remain shorter than 30 minutes.
Rights to all music used in the films must be secured before the films are submitted.
Consent of all who appear in the film must be secured before the films are submitted.
Films are allowed to have been submitted in previous festivals.
When submitting your film, you must accept or deny the festival to archive your film.
Credits are not required but are highly encouraged.
Films must be the original work of the entrants. Any content that is based on a pre-existing copyrighted work demands that the applicants have secured necessary rights to the content. Your entry to the festival is your confirmation that you have the rights to your film and all it contains.
Entrants submitted work is the entrants FINAL version of the film.
Entrants are allowed up to 3 submissions, given that the total length of their submissions does not exceed 1 hour in content.
Films will be judged based on quality, creativity, and effort. A number of awards will be given to films that excel in certain areas. These include but are not limited to: Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Actor/Actress, Best Picture, Best Original Soundtrack.
Such awards can only be given to films that include credits for any and all contributors.
Any additional guidelines or announcements regarding the festival can be found on the festival website and other social media.