HIGHLAND PARK INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL (HPIFF) fosters emerging and established filmmakers by providing forums for screening projects, networking with industry professionals and mentoring student filmmakers in Northeast Los Angeles. All films will screen at the historic Highland Theatre on a DCP system.

Best Feature Film
Best Feature Documentary
Best Short Film
Best Short Documentary
Best Horror Film
Best Student Film
Audience Choice Award
Best Performance
Best Ensemble Performance
Best Cinematography
Best Musical Composition

INSTRUCTIONS AND IMPORTANT DATES

Submissions are open to all filmmakers, topics, and genres. Features are films 60 minutes and up. Shorts are films under 45 minutes.

Final Deadline submission date is Monday 8/28/23. In honor of our 10th Anniversary celebration we are offering a submission fee of $10 for all submissions.

Filmmakers can only submit 1 project.

If selected exhibition will be through our DCP system. Please provide us with a DCP presentation file and a Pro Res 422 Quicktime back up file. Files must be delivered on a Mac-compatible external hard drive or flash drive and must be received NO LATER than 1 week prior to event date.

Questions? Email: marita@hpifilmfest.com

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Highland Park Independent Film Festival were friendly, gracious and lovely hosts. Our team and I had the best weekend and we left feeling inspired and on a real high. We really appreciated the filmmaker meet and greet and got to connect with other wonderful filmmakers. Thanks for having us HPIFF!!

    February 2024
  • Amazing festival! The world premiere of my student animated film IN THE SHADOWS took place at HPIFF, and I couldn't be happier. Highland Park is a cool historic location with a great area to explore. The day before the festival they held a meet and greet for filmmakers, and everyone there was friendly and great to network with. As shy as I am, the vibe was welcoming and plenty of people came over to talk. I met so many people I'm keeping in touch with and would be thrilled to work with in the future.

    After introductions at the meet and greet, it was easy to talk to everyone again at the festival. The lineup of films was some of the best I've seen—I am ecstatic to have premiered alongside them. I thought I'd only want to stick around for my own film block, but we ended up trying to see as many as possible, and I'm glad we did.

    The communication has been great, and the organizers are all incredible. They do a wonderful job of celebrating everyone, from their own hardworking staff to the graphic designer behind the awesome posters and to, of course, the filmmakers. After each block, they called up any filmmakers in the audience for a short Q&A. This was a fantastic feature that made the event feel personal, and opened up the door to further networking.

    For any other animators out there, I will say that the majority of films were live action. I did see at least one animation other than mine. I still highly recommend submitting here due to the insanely high quality of the event, especially in comparison to the low entry fee, but it's something to keep in mind.

    Thanks again HPIFF for including me in your wonderful festival. Hope we meet again soon!

    October 2023
  • Ella Gale

    This festival was really well programmed, with great parties and hospitality. My screening was well-attended, and I met a lot of interesting filmmakers. Such a pleasure to screen here.

    October 2023
  • Marianne Williams

    HPIFF is the real deal; a wonderful and well-planned festival with great events and programming. We were honored that Stunner was included and won Best Cinematography. Thank you and see you next year!

    October 2023
  • The Highland Park Independent Film Festival what a delight to be a part of.

    October 2023