The Oakland Short Film Festival brings independent films from around the globe to one of the most upcoming destinations in the film industry.

Loyal to our vision to showcase emerging talents and highlight the importance of the cinema beyond budget, background and genre, OAKFF always features a diverse screening program.

Our main aim is to connect the filmmakers with the audience and offer a connecting hub for cinephiles, artists and industry experts.

Oakland Short Film Festival took place for the first time in 2019 and after two years of online screenings due to Covid-19 restrictions, has returned to the cinema halls with the vision to expand further.

About HFP:
Oakland Short Film Festival is organised by HFP, a pioneer organisation that runs Film Festivals and other events showcasing and championing ideas of diversity. Through our global series of film Festivals that spread in 13 countries, we open the path to voices with a compelling story to share. Our main mission is to honour independent cinema and establish a network of artists eager to join forces and spread their work across all nations. HFP runs 25 film Festivals worldwide.

The Festival's award-winning films are presented at the end of the screenings and are announced on our official website and social media.

All winners receive our official award certificate.

✓ All films must be submitted in English or with English subtitles (if in a different language).

✓ All films must have been made in or after 2023.

✓ Short films must not exceed 45 minutes.

✓ Filmmakers are responsible for sorting out the copyright on their own materials.

✓ By submitting to us, you give us consent and right to screen your film in front of a live audience, and, under special circumstances, online screening.

✓ Nominations: These are all the films that have been nominated for an award in a category. Not all nominated films will be screened.

Official Selection: These are all the nominated films selected for screening, which will be notified via email. If you received a Nomination email, but no Official Selection email, it means your film will not be screened, but is still a contender for an award in its category.

Award Winners: Chosen from the Nominations (which includes the Official Selection).

✓ Film Critique: With this service, an experienced film professional will review your project and write a 1 to 2 pages critique (depending on the length of the film) of the submitted film. Both films and screenplays can be submitted into this category. Film critiques are sent to filmmakers within 1 to 3 months after the Film Festival event. This service cannot be combined with discount codes and is offered as an add-on option. In order to combine the Add-on Film Critique with a category, write down the Category of your choice on your Cover Letter or Director's Statement.

✓ Film Critique: With this service, an experienced film professional will review your project and write a 1 to 2 pages critique (depending on the length of the film) of the submitted film. Both films and screenplays can be submitted into this category. Film critiques are sent to filmmakers within 1 to 3 months after the Film Festival event. This service cannot be combined with discount codes and is offered as an add-on option. In order to combine the Add-on Film Critique with a category, write down the Category of your choice on your Cover Letter or Director's Statement.

✓ We may promote clips from your film on social media, based on the press kits you provide us with.

✓ We retain the right to change the date and venue of the festival under special circumstances. All filmmakers will be informed about any changes through email and our online platforms.

✓ We place no restrictions on your work in terms of premiere status or whether your work has been made available online.

✓ We do not accept partial screeners, trailers, or screener links that require access other than password protected links.

✓ Any technical issues with the submitted films are 100% the responsibility of the filmmakers. If, at the time of judging, your video file doesn’t work or doesn’t have English subtitles (if in a language other than English), it will be automatically rejected, without a refund. Please contact the festival team ASAP if there are any issues with the submission process, and a solution will be found.

✓ We cannot provide refunds.

✓ If you have submitted your project in the previous year, please do not resubmit the same project to the current edition.

✓ By submitting to us you agree to our terms and conditions and to receiving marketing newsletters and discounts about film festivals in the form of emails. We will never sell your information to third parties.

✓ We reserve the right to update our terms and conditions.

Overall Rating
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  • Hi all! It was great to have Natal screened in your film festival. Thank you for selecting it. We will be glad to participate again next year

    April 2024
  • Morten Vang Simonsen

    Thank you so much for selecting my short film at your festival. Amazing experience, I look forward to following you in the future.

    April 2024
  • Filmografo Filmografo

    Fantastic moment. Thank you to the Festival...

    April 2024
  • Christian Arredondo

    Unfortunately, I couldn't assist to the Festival but they were always very responsive and attentive. I hope we can assist another time. Thank you!

    April 2023
  • Erica Eng

    Wonderful, thank you for the huge honor of playing my film "Americanized" and for awarding us Best Short Film!

    May 2022