The Philadelphia Film Festival, October 22-November 1, 2020 is an annual eleven day festival featuring Philadelphia premieres of international, domestic, and local films, as well as retrospective tributes, forums and panels, and parties.

Over the past several years, the Festival has grown to become not only a local gem that Philadelphians look forward to every year, but also an important festival within the industry as a whole. The quality of the programming has been stellar, featuring some of the most highly-anticipated and eventual award-winning films, Knives Out, Harriet, Jojo Rabbit, Marriage Story, Waves, The Irishman, Lady Bird, La La Land, and Best Picture Winners Moonlight, Spotlight, Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), 12 Years a Slave, and The Artist.

The Festival consists of over 100 films screened across the city in addition to events such as the Opening and Closing Night parties, VIP receptions, and a festival lounge open daily, where ticket holders, badge holders, and special guests can relax between shows and talk movies with patrons & guests.

The Festival also welcomes a large number of guests, bringing filmmakers, actors, distributors and industry professionals to experience the Festival and Philadelphia. These guests included filmmakers and honorees such as: Bruce Willis, M. Night Shyamalan, Damien Chazelle, Joel Edgerton, Rian Johnson, Jason Reitman, Paul Dano, Karen Gillan, Todd Haynes, Lee Daniels, Jonathan Demme, Alexander Payne, Paul Rudd, David O. Russell, and Robert Zemeckis, as well as representatives from distributors or sales agencies such as: Cinetic Media, The Film Sales Company, IFC Films, Kino Lorber FIlms, Magnolia Pictures, Music Box Films, Paramount, Preferred Content, Radius-TWC, Roadside Attractions, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisition Group, Strand Releasing, and Submarine Entertainment.

The Philadelphia Film Festival was named one of 2016’s Top 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee in 2016 by MovieMaker Magazine.

Awards & Prizes

The Philadelphia Film Festival gives out the following awards:
Audience Award
Best Narrative Feature
Best Documentary Feature
Archie Award for Best First Feature
Pinkenson Award for Best Local Feature Film
Best Short Film

Rules & Terms

Screeners will not be returned.

Films should be a premiere in at least the greater Philadelphia area, and should not have screened publicly elsewhere in the Philadelphia Region.

Films should not be available publicly in any form of digital streaming, rental or sale.

Films must have been completed after October 2019.

Students can apply for a discount by emailing submissions@filmadelphia.org.

TERMS & CONDITIONS
Philadelphia Film Festival is hereby granted the right to utilize an excerpt or stills from any film submitted and accepted for exhibition at the Festival and in perpetuity thereafter for promotional purposes.

The individual or corporation submitting the film hereby warrants that it is authorized to commit the film for screening, and understands and accepts these requirements and regulations.

The undersigned shall indemnify and hold harmless Philadelphia Film Festival from and against any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney's fees, and costs of the court) which may be incurred by reason of any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss of or damage to the screening videos entered.