Out On Film, Atlanta's LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) Film Festival, is one of the leading LGBTQ film festivals in the United States, as well as an Oscar qualifying one. Short films that win the festival’s Best Drama Short award will now be eligible to enter the Academy’s Live Action Short film competition for the concurrent season, provided their films otherwise comply with the Academy rules. In 2021, we will hold our 34th annual film festival. Each year, we showcase approximate narratives, documentaries, short films. We show everything from international fare to local programming to retrospectives. We also place a big premium on working with filmmakers. Our visiting filmmaker series is one of the most respected in the industry.

Awards & Prizes


We offer Audience Awards for Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary, Best Trans-Themed Feature, Best Drama Short, Best Men's Themed Short Film, Best Women's Themed Short Film and Best Foreign Film

We offer Jury Awards for Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best Foreign Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best First Film, Best Ensemble and Best Drama Short.

We are an Oscar ® qualifying film festival. Short films that win the festival’s Best Drama Short award will now be eligible to enter the Academy’s Live Action Short film competition for the concurrent season, provided their films otherwise comply with the Academy rules

Rules & Terms

GUIDELINES
1- Submit online via FilmFreeway.
2- DVD screeners must have Film Title, Running Time, and Contact Info on it.
3 - If your work is accepted, you will be notified by August 14, 2021. An exhibition tape or print is required by September 9, 2021.
4- Shipment of exhibition materials to the festival must be paid by the applicant. Return shipment of exhibition materials will be paid by the festival.
5- Due to the large number of entries, we cannot return preview screeners.
6- Films that we screen need to be Atlanta premieres. Under very few exceptions will we shown a film that has already screened locally.

37 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Pam Walton

    Thank you Out on Film. We so appreciated the Zoom interview you did with us and the other short films directors. A very nice touch!

    October 2021
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  • Solomon Watkins

    We really hoped to make it to the festival, however travel restrictions prevented us. We felt very included still with the availability and participation online. We were able to still meet with other film makers over zoom and make connections too. The content which was selected all had its individuality and attending was constantly exciting.

    October 2021
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  • Alex Sangha

    I am so honored to have my debut feature documentary, Emergence: Out of the Shadows, as an official selection at Out on Film in Atlanta which is an Academy Award qualifying festival. The director and I even got a chance to do a Q and A with the festival programmer. The team at Out on Film is very responsive to filmmakers. Thanks for selecting our film. Great film festival.

    October 2021
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  • Kelly Walker

    Thank you so much to Jim and the team for making us feel so welcome at this year's festival. While we weren't able to be there in person, we felt the love, the connection and the spirit of Out On Film. They did a great job of giving us ways to connect with other filmmakers. Can't wait to do it again sometime!

    October 2021
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  • Asaf Yecheskel

    A wonderful film festival with terrific films. Communication was great and we were well informed. Thank you for selecting "Inverted" and "Iftah"! Looking forward to collaborating with you again in the future!

    October 2021
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