Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival

5/12/2021: This year we'll be at the beautiful Theatre Exile in South Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival (PUFF) selects 95% of its micro and short films from its FilmFreeway submissions. We have featured 30+ films in each of our 5 years, and work hard to showcase as many independent filmmakers as possible. More than just a "horror" film festival, each year PUFF includes an eclectic mix of features and shorts, including sci-fi, action, documentary, bizzare, drama and more.

PUFF was founded as an alternative festival to bring new and undiscovered films to cinema fans in Philadelphia. The festival has previously featured such notable films as Tragedy Girls, Witch in the Window, Happy Face, Antrum, and Karate Kill. We tout an excellent success rate for our selections, with 95% of our feature films from the first few years of the festival receiving independent distribution.

PUFF works to connect upstart filmmakers with distribution outlets by working with local independent film distributors, and to offer a place for filmmakers to gain exposure and network with as many industry professionals as possible. Filmmakers are welcomed to participate in our digital screening library to spread awareness about their projects.

All accepted films are screened at the 2223 Theater (2223.fish) on our theatrical sized screen. The theater is located in the trendy neighborhood of Fishtown, known for its popular restaurants, bars and art scene. (Venue may change due to current state and city COVID restrictions).

Festival Director Alex Gardner offers a long history of film festival and horror journalism experience, working with other film festivals in the past such as Another Hole in the Head, Buffalo Dreams and the Bay Area’s SiliCon.

PUFF's aim is to grow into a multimedia experience where people can enjoy our great city while experiencing the best in new cinema.

Win the famous PUFF tiara for Best Feature and Best Short, plus awards and prizes for Best Local Film. Awards are chosen via weighted audience voting. Additional prizes to be announced.

BEST FEATURE AUDIENCE : Famous PUFF Tiara, Gift Card and more
BEST FEATURE JURY: Famous PUFF Tiara
BEST SHORT AUDIENCE: Famous PUFF Tiara, Gift Card
BEST SHORT JURY: Famous PUFF Tiara
BEST MICRO SHORT: PUFF Swag
BEST LOCAL SHORT AUDIENCE: Local Gift Card

An authorized representative of the project being submitted must agree via digital signature that the film being submitted does not break any laws, and that all necessary licenses, royalties, release forms have been obtained. By submitting to the Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival (PUFF) you are granting the PUFF the right to screen any submitted Films twice during the scheduled Festival dates. You are also granting the Festival permission to use footage, stills and/or titles, and information from or relating to the Film for promotional purposes.

Films already available on home video/streaming/online are no longer accepted.

New films that have recently had a festival screening in the city of Philadelphia will not be eligible.

Films that have premiered before 2021 are not eligible.

If your film is accepted you must capable of providing us with both a digital and physical copy for backup. Filmmakers are responsible for all shipping costs. Physical media submitted to the Festival will not be returned. There is a $15 service fee for any films PUFF has to burn to physical media. Payments can be made through PayPal or Venmo.

Suggested film specs:

1920x1080 or 1280x720
16:9 Aspect Ratio
24FPS
Audio Sample 48 kHz
Video Bit Rate, at least 5000 kbps
NTSC
.mp4 container
Apple ProRes 422 or codec of similar quality

Subtitles must be presented on the film and not in a separate file.

Accepted films will also need to provide images, one-sheet and downloadable links or files for all available trailers. Trailers will be uploaded to the official Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival YouTube page.

Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival reserves the right to change any rules or scheduling. All accepted entries will be notified of any changes.

Please make sure all physical copies mailed to the Festival are titled, and include running time plus contact information. Please also provide a brief synopsis of your film, genre and if you're a local or student entry when submitting.

Overall Rating

Quality

Value

Communication

Hospitality

Networking

Aaron Bartuska

I could not have asked for a better first festival experience than the one I had with PUFF. The entire team was so supportive of our film 'For Roger' and they did a great job at marketing it to their audience. We were honored to have our sold out world premiere at this festival, and we will definitely be submitting our future work.

October 2021

Helpful
Mark L. Mazzeo

This is a really cool festival with a great vibe. A lot of fun with a cool venue and a great lineup of films. The tiaras they give out as awards are absolutely unique and awesome. Will definitely be submitting again in the future!

October 2021

Helpful
Christopher Bickel

Great festival run by thoughtful people, hosted in a charming neighborhood. PUFF is legit and I hope they keep growing and growing.

October 2021

Helpful

Response from festival:

Thanks for coming. Look forward to your future films.
Michael Bartolomeo

LOVE THE PUFF!! Sucks it wasn't live, obviously, but they seem to have done a great job making the "COVID pivot" this year and I can't wait to submit our next one and actually perhaps attend in person again. We attended live 2017 and it was such an awesome experience.

October 2020

Helpful
Bryan Bostic

Great festival. Very good communication. I wish it wasn’t virtual this year because I would have love to fly out and be apart of it. But, still proud to be accepted into it.

October 2020

Helpful