Welcome to the McMinnville Short Film Festival. Come celebrate our 13th anniversary with us in February 2024! Short Film. Oregon Wine Country!

Recognized by MovieMaker Magazine in 2023 as one of "20 Great Film Festivals in Vacation Destinations." Located one hour south of Portland, in the heart of (AVA recognized) Oregon wine country, the McMinnville Short Film Festival (MSFF) is a true filmmaker’s film festival. Our team carefully considers every submission and we strive to identify independent voices and original storytellers. The MSFF has been selected as a “Top 100 Best Reviewed Festival” by FilmFreeway multiple times. Once selected, the films are reviewed by our noteworthy film industry professionals and Academy affiliated judges for category winners and awards.

"I've always encouraged filmmakers to make shorts. It's a great way to gain visibility and create a calling card for Hollywood to recognize new talent. It is a pleasure to watch so many high quality shorts at the McMinnville Short Film Festival." -2023 Keynote Speaker and Festival Judge, Peter Billinglsey (Executive Producer, Iron Man, A Christmas Story, Couples Retreat, The Breakup.)

The MSFF hosts a critical component to the Oregon arts community by connecting local filmmakers with their counterparts from around the world, and by providing a venue for culturally diverse screenings, events, and gatherings.

In recognition of our local food and wine culture we are launching a new culinary category in any genre (drama, documentary, etc.) with a focus on wine, food and all things culinary.

The MSFF held an in-person 2023 festival showcasing over 104 short films from over 30 countries. Highlights included an opening ceremony meet-and-greet held in a charming vineyard barrel room, ongoing filmmaker Q & A's, networking mixers at local tasting rooms, industry focused panels, the featured 'Breakfast with a Filmmaker' and a closing awards dinner celebration.

"Imagine screening your film in a beautiful setting with welcoming audiences who appreciate your work and what it takes to make a film. Imagine networking events where filmmakers truly want to help each other. Imagine world class wine and amazing restaurants. Now imagine yourself here, at the McMinnville Short Film Festival. Come once, and you’ll want to come back every year." - Kelley Baker
Independent Filmmaker & Author (Good Will Hunting, To Die For, My Own Private Idaho, Psycho.)

MSFF organizers cater to filmmakers from the moment a film is submitted to the moment the festival wraps. Experience why New York City based filmmaker, Nancy Nagrant, had this to say, "The McMinnville Short Film Festival stands out for all the right reasons: easy and prompt communication, high-quality programming, a great venue, and plenty of networking events where you can really get to know fellow attendees. The vibes here are fun, warm, and welcoming. You can feel MSFF’s love for film and filmmakers from the first email you receive to the closing night after party. Highly recommended."

All selected films receive:
-Two all access passes which include all filmmaker events and screenings along with discounted lodging to attend the Festival. All of our filmmaker events are fully catered with open wine bar to showcase our AVA and award winning Willamette Valley wines.

In an effort to raise visibility for under represented voices in film we offer the following waivers:

LGBTQ+: Directors identifying as LGBTQ+ please use waiver code LGBTQMAC23 for 25% off submission fee.

BIPOC: Directors identifying as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous of People of Color) please use BIPOCMAC23 for 25% off submission fee.

All Oregon students please email info@mcminnvilleshortfilmfest.org for a full submission waiver courtesy of Oregon Film. Submissions utilized this waiver is for the college category ONLY. Must have proof of student ID.

We look forward to watching your work and celebrating independent filmmakers with you! Questions? Email: Info@mcminnvillefilmfest.org.

vineyard photo credit: Linfield University

Awards & Prizes

Each Official Selection will receive digital laurels. Each Nominee and Winner will receive additional digital laurels and a certificate and a trophy (cash prizes noted below.)

Grand Jury Award - $1000 prize

Best Oregon Filmmaker - $2000 camera package courtesy of festival partner KOERNER CAMERA - the Pacific Northwest's premiere digital camera house

Founders Award - $500 Awarded to Outstanding Female Filmmaker
(Director, Writer, DP, Editor, and/or Producer are all eligible)

Will Vinton Award for Best Animated Short Film - $300 prize

Best Environmental Film (Sponsor: Zero Waste McMinnville) - $250 prize

Best Locals Film - Yamhill County Residents only (Sponsor: AAYC) - $250 prize

Best Experimental / A Bit Strange

Best Documentary

Best Drama

Best Comedy

Best Suspense/Horror/Sci-fi

Best Culinary

Best Student Film (College)

Shawash Ilihi Award - presented in partnership with The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde

Rules & Terms

Short films in selected genres, maximum 20 minutes in length.

Entrants will be notified of their submission’s selection status on or about December 1, 2023. Accepted films MUST PROVIDE A DCP of their film or in some cases a 1080P MP4 file. Foreign language films must be subtitled in English.

Submission to the 2024 McMinnville Short Film Festival constitutes an agreement with all festival terms and conditions, and permission to exhibit the work during the festival if selected. Entrants warrant that they have the legal right to submit the work to MSFF, that all statements made in this application are true and accurate, and that all necessary rights and clearances have been secured to exhibit the work at the festival.

MSFF DOES NOT provide screening fees or honorariums for submitted work — or for any film screening as part of the festival’s juried competition.

MSFF may deny acceptance of any film at its sole discretion. ENTRY FEES ARE NON-REFUNDABLE.

All films must be submitted through FilmFreeway.

Any costs necessary to deliver the exhibition file to MSFF in the required format, or for any necessary subtitling, is the sole responsibility of the entrant.

All accepted films grant MSFF and their designated agents’ permission to utilize clips, trailers, and images from the film for MSFF and McMinnville Short Film Festival promotional content. The entrant agrees to notify MSFF if or when they may lose ownership of the clips, trailers, and images and no longer be able to grant said permission.

If the submission becomes an "Official Selection" and/or wins a prize, MSFF requests that this be noted on promotional materials. Festival laurels are available to all Official Selections and Award winners.

Although every possible care will be taken with exhibition material in our possession, MSFF is not responsible for loss or damage. Please do not send originals, special prints or master tapes.
89 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
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Networking
  • Blake Horn

    A wonderful festival with excellent curation and hospitable hosts! The McMinnville team really cares about the films and filmmakers and creates an environment full of fun, collaboration, and celebration! Very fun to have the films play at a cineplex and every film that played had a unique flavor. Couldn't recommend this festival enough!

    April 2023
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  • Izzy Stevens

    A fantastic festival run by wonderful people who want to help you succeed! I am so grateful and thrilled that McMinnville exists and hosted us at their festival. Intimate filmmakers networking events, great wine, compelling films, everything I crave in a festival. If you get into this festival, you should be proud, and you should definitely GO! Attending this was one of my favourite experiences. Thanks for having Seafoam!

    Izzy Stevens, director/producer

    April 2023
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  • Noah Weisel

    Delightful festival, even in a snowstorm. Run by folks who truly give a d***. Strikes a great balance of showcasing local/regional, special-interest, indie filmmakers ready for the national spotlight and even a few international gems (plus a block devoted to "Strange" films? Awesome). A surprising number of filmmakers made the trek despite the weather and there were more opportunities to celebrate and network with them than I would have expected. But, importantly, this was also not a festival where only the filmmakers show up! Every block I saw was well attended, Q&As were thoughtful and interesting.

    Minor gripes: there were a couple of "documentaries" that were more like branded content. This gets tricky as brands start to fund filmmakers with a legitimate social justice story to tell. But are the results documentaries? I'm not sure.

    Only other thing is the venue. It's the town multi-plex (for now!), so facilities and projection/sound were excellent, but it's not in the town core, where most of the events and all the good spots and hotels are. BUT, The Mack - the shuttered vintage movie theater right downtown - will be the new home of the festival soon (next year?). Once that happens, this becomes a fest accepted filmmakers really MUST attend.

    April 2023
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  • Justin Perkinson

    I’m so grateful to McMinnville Short Film Festival for their support of my short documentary film “Winter Worm Summer Grass”, which won their 2023 Best Documentary award. While I was unfortunately unable to attend the festival (due to a prior filming commitment), my editor was able to go and represent, and she thoroughly enjoyed it! She raved about all the great films and the programming skills of MSFF’s Executive Director Heather Older and her team, and all the positive, warm energy. I really hope to experience the festival in person down the road. It’s clear McMinnville really cares about curating great short films, celebrating filmmakers, and supporting them to reach movie-loving audiences. Great fest — Thanks so much, MSFF!

    March 2023
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  • Noah Dorsey

    Awesome festival. Always worth the trip.

    March 2023
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