The Minnesota Film Festival (MFF) will take place April 3-7, 2024 in person at the Zeitgeist Center for Arts and Community, Zeitgeist Arts Building in downtown Duluth, MN!

MFF will consist of a variety of local, national, and international films, post-film conversations and Q&As with filmmakers, balloting, and almost $20,000 in cash awards.

MFF alumni are eligible for a fee waiver!

The Minnesota Film Festival is passionate about programming films from filmmakers that are working in their own communities and outside of major film industry hubs. We are excited about films that are being made with limited budgets, from small towns, and from resourceful filmmakers.

We focus on highlighting filmmakers and stories from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the greater Midwest.

COMMUNITY CENTERED:
Building and nurturing a thriving film and media arts community is important to us. In order to connect more with the community, we have established community partnerships with organizations that have a strong foothold across a diverse range of people in the region. Through these partnerships, we aim to prioritize artists who have historically been denied access to resources and opportunities within the industry.

CREATIVE EXPRESSION:
We judge films solely based on their artistic and creative expression not on the resources they were drawn from. We look for films as art, evocative of reflection and response.
We invite filmmakers to submit innovative works that do not adhere to conventional storytelling techniques.

Send any questions to submissions@zeitgeistarts.com.

Thank you for sharing your films with us!

Awards & Prizes

We will be giving awards to the following categories below. All awards will be juried by industry professionals:

Best Documentary Feature Award $500

Best Narrative Feature Award $500

Best Documentary Short Award $500

Best Narrative Short Award $500

Local Filmmaker Award $500

Iron Range Award presented by IRRRB $500

Got a pitch for a film? Consider submitting to our Pitch Competition: https://filmfreeway.com/MFFPitch

Rules & Terms

SHORT FILMS are classified as having a runtime of 1–39 minutes in length.
FEATURE FILMS are classified as having a runtime of 40–120 minutes in length.

Finished projects must be completed no earlier than January 2022 to be eligible for the 2024 festival.

Submission fee is non-refundable.

Filmmakers will assume shipping and handling costs to the festival.

All submissions must be in a visual format of 1080p or greater quality, 24fps, 25fps, or 30fps, and be 1-120 minutes in length.

All films must be submitted digitally, via links on Vimeo or Youtube or an attached digital download in MP4, WMV, AVI, Quicktime, or Apple ProRes format.

All films should be in their final form.

Any films that have a significant amount of non-English dialogue must include English subtitles.

Filmmakers must have the rights to their films, and through submitting thereby grant the Minnesota Film Festival the right to screen their film.

All submissions received by January 22, 2024 will be reviewed for the Minnesota Film Festival’s 2024 programming (April 3-7, 2024). All applicants will be notified of inclusion or otherwise by February 15, 2024.

Final copies of accepted films must be received by February 15, 2024, with a daily fee of $5 for copies received after. Films received on March 22, 2024 and after may not be shown due to inadequate time to prepare and test.

The Festival is unable to waive entry fees or provide discounts beyond those indicated. Entry fees are not refundable. You may submit any number of titles; however, a separate entry form, preview copy, and entry fee are required for each title. If the Festival determines a work is entered in the wrong category and needs to reassign it, any discrepancy in entry fees between the categories must be paid by the filmmaker.
24 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Glenís Hunter

    Very organized, great local crowd and supportive of native films. Accommodating to filmmakers making sure there’s never an empty theatre. Thanks for having us!!

    April 2024
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  • KALIE GRANIER

    Amazing festival! Thank you for all!

    April 2024
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  • Cassie Llanas

    While I WISH I could’ve stayed longer, Im so thankful ya’ll let my team and I be apart of this festival. I lived in the Twin Cities for years and am so mad I hadn’t been to Duluth before! Beautiful city, super fun lineup and showcase of films, and the after party was a ton of fun!
    I’m looking forward to next time!

    April 2024
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  • Festival Formula

    We were thrilled to have 3 clients screen at the festival in 2024 - the programme was well crafted and the personal touch in all the communication and events was most appreciated.

    Maria
    Pasture & Storm
    Smoking In Public

    April 2024
    Helpful
  • Ryan Stopera

    I really loved this festival. The entire team was so friendly and created a professional yet laid back environment. The programming was well done, the talks were interesting and engaging, the networking events were fun and the location was amazing with the cinema and restaurant in the same space. Highly recommend this festival to local and international filmmakers.

    April 2024
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