We are thrilled to announce the Seventh year of the Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival (JTIFF) happening April 18-21, 2024 at the beautiful Mauch Chunk Opera House in historic Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. Our first six years were such a rousing success that we are expecting to double the excitement and turnout for our 7th sensational year.

The Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival channels the rebellious spirit of the infamous Molly Maguires, welcoming the boldest, most defiant filmmakers to present their work, shatter convention and incite spirited debate. Our credo is “Eyes and Minds Wide Open” and we mean it!

We welcome features and shorts of every genre and budget - from gritty underground and experimental films to traditional narratives and documentaries.

At Midnight on Saturday, we'll be continuing our very popular GRINDHOUSE program. So send us your wildest, most over-the-top films that not only push the envelope, but rip it to shreds! *NO ONE UNDER 18 will be admitted to the GRINDHOUSE screenings.

We're also very pleased to continue our STUDENT FILM PROGRAM and as always, we'll be offering deep discounts for young filmmakers with proof of current enrollment.

And note that we continue to add even more LIVE MUSIC performances throughout our 4-day event through our collaboration with Philadelphia's cutting-edge music collective, GREAT CIRCLES!

So submit your film now and we hope to see you at the Mauch Chunk Opera House in April!

1 Best Feature
2 Best Short
3 Best Student Film – US
4 Best Student Film – International
5 Best Documentary
6 Best LGBTQ Subject
7 Best Horror / Sci Fi
8 Best Comedy
9 Best Animation
10 Best Experimental
11 Best Grindhouse
12 Best Music Video (NEW)
13 Best Director – Feature
14 Best Director – Short
15 Best Student Director – US
16 Best Student Director – International
17 Best Screenplay - Feature
18 Best Screenplay – Short
19 Best Cinematography
20 Best Cinematography – Student
21 Best Actor – Feature
22 Best Actress – Feature
23 Best Actor – Short
24 Best Actress – Short
25 Local Hero – Pennsylvania Filmmaker Award
26 Pennsylvania Student Filmmaker Award
27 Special Jury Prize

• All projects must have been completed AFTER January 1, 2022
• All films submitted to JTIFF must NOT be released theatrically in the US, on Blu-ray or VOD, and must NOT be available to watch in its entirety by the public on YouTube, Vimeo, or any other website or streaming platform, free or otherwise.
• To be eligible for selection by JTIFF, YOUR FILM MUST BE AN EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA PREMIERE*** This means that your film can not be screened at any other public film festival located within the state of Pennsylvania East of Harrisburg prior to screening at JTIFF. This does not include internal university or college screenings & festivals where the filmmaker is enrolled as a student.
• Entrant warrants that there are NO DISPUTES regarding the ownership of their film/project/screenplay. If there is ANY DISPUTE whatsoever, said film/project/screenplay will be disqualified. 
• Entrant(s) confirm(s) and warrant(s) required legal authority to submit the entry into the Festival and to use all music, images and content in the entry. 
• Entrant(s) will allow usage of clips from the entry and all related publicity material submitted for promotional use on television, radio, in print, web and at live Festival events.
• All decisions made by judges, programmers and organizers will be final, and NO REFUND of entry fee will be permitted.
• The Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival (JTIFF) reserves the right to remove a film from the festival program for any reason or for no reason, and shall not be liable for any refund or claims of any kind arising out of such removal. In case the film in question is disqualified, or is unable to screen due to technical, or operational difficulties, or if your film needs to be rescheduled, delayed, or removed from the program for any reason, the filmmaker(s) (cast, crew, or anyone involved with the project in question) are not entitled to any refund or damage claims of any kind. 
 
By submitting to the Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival (JTIFF) you must fulfill the following requirements by the date(s) designated by the Festival:
1. You must execute a release agreement wherein you (I) accept responsibility for obtaining any and all clearances necessary to exhibit your film at JTIFF; (II) warrant that you have the rights necessary to exhibit your film at JTIFF; (III) indemnify and hold harmless JTIFF, Todd Morris, Jocelyn O'Neil, all JTIFF sponsors, including but not limited to the town of Jim Thorpe, PA and any/all city departments, as well as JTIFF's affiliates, and subsidiaries and any of their respective directors, officers, employees, staff, volunteers, and representatives against any claim, including attorney's fees, arising out of exhibition, or non-exhibition of your film at JTIFF, and (IV) you warrant the submission of your original work and warrant that there are no disputes regarding the ownership of the submission in question. 
2. If selected, you must deliver to the email address(es) or dropbox designated by the Festival (I) one high resolution exhibition copy of the invited work. For features screening via Blu-ray, we recommend you ship via FedEx or UPS in order to permit the tracking of your entry once it leaves your hands.
3. All exhibition copies must be delivered at 1080p mp4 format or higher resolution.
4. JTIFF cannot be held liable or responsible for any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, or royalty infringement. 
5. JTIFF reserves the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason, or for no reason. We enforce this policy to ensure a secure, professional and convenient environment for all of our customers.
 
By submitting: You agree to indemnify, hold harmless from and defend JTIFF, Todd Morris, Jocelyn Morris, JTIFF's affiliates, and subsidiaries, and any of their respective directors, officers, employees, and representatives against all claims, demand losses, damages, judgments, liabilities, and expenses (including attorney's fees) arising out of or in connection with any and all claims of third parties, whether or not groundless, based on any film or project submitted to the Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival (JTIFF), or rejected/removed/disqualified by the Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival (JTIFF). 
 
GENERAL INFORMATION
 
SUBMIT AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE! This not only allows more time for programmers to consider your film, but you will not run the risk of missing the deadline. 
 
Selected projects will be screened via high-resolution (1080p minimum) mp4, H.264, ProRes, or Blu-ray discs in NTSC Region 0 or 1.
 
"Works in progress" will NOT be considered.
 
LANGUAGE: All entries must be in English or contain English subtitles.
 
FINAL DEADLINE: Submissions received beyond the final deadline listed on FilmFreeway will NOT be considered.
 
Submission fees are NON-REFUNDABLE.
 
Blu-ray Screeners will not be returned.
 
LOSS OR DAMAGE: Every precaution will be taken to safeguard all materials submitted while in the possession of the Festival. However, we cannot accept or assume responsibility in the event of loss or damage.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Andrew Wilczak

    Fabulous festival, will always submit when I have something and look forward to attending again.

    July 2023
  • Jim Vacca

    I was working on my next project and unfortunately unable to attend, but from everything I heard and saw, the festival was amazing. Excellent communication from the organizers! Thanks for selecting "Dreaming"!

    May 2023
  • alfredo nico

    Todo fue realmente excelente, los anfitriones y productores del evento fueron muy amables, y el recibimiento que me dieron fue muy grato. Ademas todo muy entretenido. Me da mucha felicidad haber participado de este gran festival, y que les haya gustado mi cortometraje.

    May 2023
  • Shantelena Mouzon

    This festival really pays attention to detail. They made sure I arrived and got to my destination safely. The directors and programmers always made sure I was comfortable and checked in on me at the events. Highly recommended to all my filmmaker friends. And in fact other filmmakers had recommended this festival to me and that's how I know about Jim Thorpe. Side note: everyone in the town and the town itself was lovely.

    Ethan Minsker

    May 2023
  • I-Bing Fu

    Very professional, great communication, and the event was well organized and very well curated. We were reached out to for interviews and press releases which was very nice. We feel honored to have been able to screen at the 6th annual event, and would 100% participate again if given the chance.

    May 2023