The Hayti Heritage Film Festival (HHFF) returns March 6 - 7, 2026 in Durham, NC.
HHFF is a teaching festival as well as a celebration of cinematic works from filmmakers of African descent with particular consideration given to Southern, Black stories and storytellers. HHFF is one of the nation's longest-running Black film festivals and features documentary screenings, narrative shorts and feature-length films including U.S. premieres.
Filmmaker Workshops, Q&A sessions, and panel discussions are among the other attractions.

Awards & Prizes

None.

Rules & Terms

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for consideration:

Films must be directed by a person of African descent or who otherwise identifies as Black.

Narrative feature films and documentary films must not exceed a running time of 120 minutes.

Shorts must not exceed a running time of 40 minutes.

Non-English language works must have English subtitles at the time submitted. Dialogue lists will not be accepted.

Though not required for eligibility, preference is given to films made in the American South.

Note: Submissions may be in work-in-progress form; however, works that are not final cuts must be clearly marked “Work in Progress (WIP)” or “Rough Cut” with an indication of what will change or what is missing (e.g., temp sound, missing animation, etc.).

Entrants must fully comply with these entry rules and regulations, including all deadlines, film length, entry material, and other requirements.

8 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Brad Herring

    Thank you to the entire Hayti Film Festival staff for an amazing festival, you all were great to work with. We enjoyed the festival and films, meeting new friends and filmmakers, and are grateful for the opportunity to have screened our film, Bite of Bénin at this year's festival. We'll be back next year, either with a new film or as viewers!

    March 2024
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  • Donald Conley

    I'd like to send my gratitude to the entire Hayti team for programming my short documentary, Matriarch, and for placing my film in conversation with so many brilliant creative visionaries. The team at HHFF was warm, inviting, communicative and supportive. The audience was a true moviegoing audience with immense curiosity. I had a great Q&A that started with a spiritual releasing of three deep breaths. I love y'all and I love us.

    March 2024
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  • William Winston

    Hayti Heritage was and is a dream of a festival: great communication, programming, and all-around atmosphere. I brought my short film MORNING GLORY to HHFF '24 and immediately fell in love with everything about the fest - what a fantastic opportunity for BIPOC-led films and filmmakers to enjoy and deepen their sense of community. Truly honored to be selected and I definitely will be back!

    March 2024
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  • Katrina Brook Flores

    Thank you to the whole team that make this needed, amazing and powerful festival move and groove. Our film Assaman was included as an Official Selection for 2023 and we couldn't be more honored. The curation of the festival is focused and top notch! Communication was stellar and we felt lifted up along the way. While we weren't able to attend in-person, we had audience members reach out to us through our film socials after the festival who watched our film and that was a beautiful experience. 100% recommend the Hayti Heritage Film Festival and support both the festival mission and the community it is rooted in! Thank you all - Tlazocamati - Jerejef

    June 2023
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  • Akil Wingate

    What an amazing experience and equally amazing group of people! I cannot rave enough about how special this festival and its organizers are.

    March 2021
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