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.

27 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Jillian Walzer

    I am new to the film festival scene being a first time film maker and my experience even in Covid times was a delight! Fantastic networking opportunities via zoom and my team and I are honored to have been a part in our hometown of Atlanta!!!

    January 2021
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  • Megan Daniels

    The crew at The Out on Film LGBT Film Festival did an amazing job hosting this year's online film festival. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, everyone went out of their way to make sure the filmmakers' needs were met. They also offered audiences pre-recorded Q & A sessions with the filmmakers. It was great to be able to tell our stories as to how the films came to fruition at a time when we cannot gather in theaters. I highly recommend submitting your film for consideration in the 2021 festival.

    October 2020
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  • Vandy Beth Glenn

    This is a great festival. I got a great platform for my (first!) short film, and made valuable connections for my future in moviemaking! Thanks, everyone!

    October 2020
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  • Philippe Talavera

    really excellent festival and great organisation. Sadly it was online so no opportunities to network. However there was regular feedback from the team and the award audience was a great idea. We missed face to face interactions but we appreciate the professionalism with which the online event was handled. Hugely recommended!

    October 2020
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  • Kathryn L Beranich

    My experience with Out On Film couldn't have been better. A few weeks before the festival I was alerted that there were two bad spots of audio in my doc. They sent me the timecodes and I was able to fix the problems and get a revised Master to them. Can't tell you how much I appreciated their quality control! But by far my favorite part of the festival was the Q&A conducted by Belinda Hernandez. What a pro! Her thoughtful questions reflected the research she had done before our conversation. I had a great time talking with her and am so happy my film was included in this year's festival!

    October 2020
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