The Los Angeles Pasifika Film Festival celebrates “everything” Pacific Islander - Polynesian, Micronesian, Melanesian - through cinema and conversation in partnership with a host of community partners to explore all aspects of Pasifika through the art of filmmaking. Based in Los Angeles, California, a city known for its appeal as the ‘Hollywood’ industry capital of the world, the festival brings together filmmakers worldwide to encourage interaction and engagement through film and events. The festival features in-person live screenings, filmmaking and industry panels at the University Student Union Theatre at California State University, Los Angeles.

The festival includes programming, speakers and entertainment that bring attention to Pasifika concerns in the world, and celebrate the stories of groups and people who are working for a better future. We will exhibit shorts, feature-length documentaries and narrative films from the U.S. and around the world. Our hope is to offer a film festival where filmmakers and creatives come together as a community of digital story tellers.

LAPFF was created with the intention of providing a platform for a diverse community of Pacific Island filmmakers to have their work screened more extensively on the festival circuit and to encourage our writers, directors and actors to tell their unique and complex Pasifika stories; utilizing both the power and beauty of our culture and the intricacies surrounding contemporary issues. LAPFF has a dual emphasis of discovering great talent with the purpose of promoting their work to both the LA public and the entertainment industry, as well as showcasing the work of seasoned professionals. We remain dedicated to nurturing and supporting emerging Pasifika filmmakers, as well as showcasing films to Pasifika and Pasifika-at-heart communities alike.

We are looking forward and remain highly excited to see the passion projects you have been working on.

Co-Founders,
Joey Quenga and Dr. Lani Cupchoy

Awards & Prizes

Filmmakers whose work is accepted into our festival will receive a laurel as well as free passes to screenings, invitations to networking events and are eligible for awards consideration.

Rules & Terms

Rules:

LAPFF programs films made by international creatives (directors, producers, screenwriters, designers) of Pacific Island heritage and of all levels of experience. In programming work for the Festival, LAPFF strives to represent a diversity of ideas, themes, and genres, in addition to a diversity of Pacific Islander languages, nations, and cultures.

LA Pasifika Film Festival’s priority and focus is to present media artworks that reflect the artistic vision of a person of Pacific Islander heritage while also providing a space for the artist to have their work presented to the public. LA Pasifika Film Fest only considers works that meet the following criteria:

For Film:
The director, producer or screenwriter is of Pacific Island heritage (Polynesian, Micronesian, Melanesian); If the director, producer or screenwriter is not of Pacific Island heritage, then joint creative positions (co-director, co-writer, co-producer) may also be considered with detailed submission requirements for creative role and decision-making involvement.

All projects must be complete at the time of submission; works in progress are not accepted.

Projects must have been completed no sooner than 2018 to be eligible for submission.

All films must be in English or have English subtitles.

Multiple film or video projects may be submitted separately.

HOW TO SUBMIT
Electronic submissions must be made through LA Pasifika Film Fest’s, FilmFreeway page.

Additional Materials and Exhibition Format
If your film or video project is chosen for exhibition, additional materials may be required, including:

Headshots of cast and crew
1-5 promotional stills of production, behind-the-scenes
Film screenshots

These should be high-resolution digital images in .JPG or .TIFF format, minimum of 300DPI, and should be accompanied by a separate document with captions, identification of subjects, and photo credits as necessary. You may also be requested to provide posters, trailers or other video clips, as well as additional promotional and marketing material.

Exhibition Format
Depending on the quality of your project screener, a higher resolution or format may be required. Our preferred exhibition file format is Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) 1920×1080 24p 48KHz or H.264 format.

AGREEMENTS
The following is acknowledged by the individual submitting the film or video project for consideration:

Certification
I hereby certify that I am an individual with the authorization to act on behalf of the creator(s) of this film or video project, with respects to the submission of information to be considered for public screening to the Los Angeles Pasifika Film Festival; that I have fully read and understand Submission Instructions, and that should my project be selected for screening, it will be made available in one of the specified Exhibition Formats (Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) 1920×1080 24p 48KHz or H.264 format, no later than two weeks after Official Selection notification, that all additional required materials will be provided upon request; and that I will work with LAPFF staff to support festival promotional and marketing efforts as related to my submitted project. I understand that by submitting this Submission Form, I am allowing Los Angeles Pasifika Film Festival to contact me via the provided email address for occasional marketing and information sharing purposes, that my information will never be sold or rented to a third party without my prior consent, and that I may opt out of electronic communications at any time.

By providing your Submission Fee, you are certifying your understanding that payment of the Submission Fee is non-refundable and represents NO GUARANTEE of inclusion in LAPFF event programming.