Welcome to the world of cinematic innovation film screening. The Queen City Culture Film Festival has an open call for short films where we embrace the future storytellers. We invite you to join us and immerse yourself as we celebrate independent filmmakers' visionary works. This event is a movie premier of your official selected films which will be featured in a full evening of film screening, and an award ceremony honoring with trophies for the best short film from all categories. All the official selected winning films screened at the festival will compete to be our grand prize winner.

A cash prize and trophy will be given for the best overall Indie short film that gets the most votes from our judges. All officially selected filmmakers has a chance to win and receive trophies and gain industry exposure and expert feedback, each official selected films receives one VIP pass to the entire festival. All other attendees are required to purchase a ticket to the event. This is a family event tasteful nudity is allowed, but pornography and offensive sexual content are not permitted,

Queen City Culture Film Festival is committed to providing a platform to help and inspire up and coming filmmakers to promote their films. QCCFF is more than just a two-day event in 2027, it's a filmmakers dream to see their film on the Big Screen - A live cinematic experience where emerging filmmakers showcase their films from diverse cultures and regions. Filmmakers are given the opportunity to network with film industry professionals. A filmmaker can quickly rise from obscurity to a place of stardom on the platform provided by QCCFF

Our Mission Statement:
To showcase innovative storytelling and provide a platform celebrating global filmmakers from all cultures.

April 24th, 2027, starting @12:00 pm to 1:00pm pm Meet and Greet filmmakers opening with, networking, food, then Showtime 1:00 pm - 7 pm with short intermissions. This will be an incredible day of shorts, filmmakers, speakers, interviews, followed by a red-carpet award ceremony the next day April 25, 2027 at the Hilton Garden Jr ball room! There will be potential investors - seeking projects. Winning awards can increase your film's marketability and lead to distribution deals.

We are excited to announce QCCFF is now a 2 DAY EVENT!!!! Ayrsley Grand Cinema and The Hilton Garden Inn Ayrsley Jr Ball Room for the Awards Ceremony.

Please Join us April 25th, 2027, at 12:00 pm in the Queen City for an unforgettable evening starting 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm celebrating The Crown Prestige Award Ceremony! Experience excitement on the red carpet with a photographer and interviews. Enjoy a Filmmaker's Q&A, DJ, food, wine, cash prizes, and fun at our event as we announce the winning short films across various categories, culminating in the reveal of our overall Grand Prize Winner, best actor, best actress, best youth actor and give an Community Impact Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award to our special guest. We are asking that you wear crowns on your head like Kings and Queens during our Prestigious event. .

After the films, please join us at 7:30pm April 24th ,2027 @Piedmont Social House 2135 Ayrsley Town Blvd, Charlotte NC 28273 for food, drinks, pool tables, Ping-Pong, shuffleboard and more.

Awards & Prizes

Monetary Cash Prize, Official Laurels, Award Certificate, Panels, Live Screening, VIP Pass, Trophies - Social Media Publicity and Red Carpet Interviews!

Rules & Terms

1. Duration : 30 minutes or under, no exceptions, including runtime and credits.

2. Language: English subtitles are required for submissions with language other than english.

3. Online submissions only. Please include password if password protected.

4. Personal details submitted in the entry process will be used by the competition organizers to contact entrants with information regarding the festival.

5. Films that have had private, unpublicized screening are eligible for submissions to Queen City Culture Film Festival.

6. All projects must be submitted in a format FilmFreeway can support.

7. Submitted films that qualify based on the regulations and eligibility requirements stated here seen by QCCFF programming staff and be considered equally with all other submissions.

8. All applicants must complete the official festival submission form located on FilmFreeway.

9. Filmmakers must own their work and control all copyrighted material to submit. Any questions or concerns please contact us at the email listed to discuss further.

10. Multiple entries are welcome, each entry in different categories require its own submission fee. Entry fees are non-refundable entry fees in USD only.

By submitting a film into the Queen City Culture Film Festival you grant us permission to showcase your film. The person submitting the film confirms they have authorization to screen the film and agrees to abide by these rules and regulations. The competition reserves the right to refuse entries.

The undersigned shall indemnify and hold the festival harmless for any claims, liabilities, losses, damages and expenses, including attorney’s fees and court cost related to copyright trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss of or damage to the submitted screening films entries will not be returned.

JURY - The decisions made by the selection committee are final.

The Selection Committee will determine the number of films to be included in the Official Screening.

If a film is selected Queen City Culture Film Festival will notify participants via email.

13 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Anne Trenning

    Absolutely fantastic. Attention to detail and communication were excellent. Wonderful to have been recognized in our hometown. ❤️❤️

    May 2026
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Thank you Anne for your kind words and for recognizing the effort and care we put into communication and attention to detail. It means a lot to us. We acknowledge your hometown sentiment and grateful for the support from you and our community. We were honored to have your film in our festival.

  • Peter Valentino

    The Queen City Culture Film Festival was great! Michelle Harbin and her wonderful crew did a great job of putting together high level talent and allowing us to view their films at a very high level. It's the best I've ever had my film look or sound.

    I so much appreciate that I won Best Director and Yekaterina Molostova won Best Actress for our film, ‘Bye-Bye, Sing Sing’. I really appreciate how the Queen City Culture Film Festival is pro artist and pro Art. Thank you always!

    May 2026
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Thank you Peter Valentino for your kind words and kind wishes!. We're thrilled to hear that The Queen City Culture Film Festival provided a high- caliber experience for your film and that your directing skills are recognized. A huge congratulations to you and your cast - well deserved. We're grateful for your support, Thank you for celebrating artists and art with us here in Charlotte NC.

  • Lynwood Shiva Sawyer

    A lovely Festival full of warmth and welcome.
    Michelle and her Team put in a huge amount of effort, which touched my friends who attended.
    This only the second year of a one-day festival, and fingers crossed, that it will continue and each year expand.

    May 2026
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Thank you so much for sharing your warm words. We are truly grateful and appreciate the support and effort that went into making the festival welcoming from start to finish. It means a lot to hear that your friends felt touched by the warmth and hospitality.

    We're excited about the potential to grow the festival year after year. Here's to many more memorable festivals together, and to continued opportunities for artist and audiences to connect.

  • Peter Hardy

    I wasn't able to attend the festival but very much appreciated all the communications I received. When I won an award for my short script A KEY TO THE PLOT I wished I could have been there even more!

    April 2026
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Congratulations on the win Peter! Thank you for your support and sharing how you wish you could of been there. We hope to connect with you next year as we celebrate films and our city's culture again.

  • Stephanie Soto

    We like to thank Michelle Harbin and her team at the Queen City Culture Film Festival for screening our Short Film Lost & Found about a woman's battle with dementia. This is a stellar event celebrating all levels of filmmaking. If you have a film and want exposure this is the festival to submit your project. We had a wonderful time and cant wait to submit future content. Congratulations! Stephanie Soto @gmaproductions and A. Brown @tmeoutent

    April 2026
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Thank you Stephanie Soto and A. Brown for a 5 star review, we were honored to have screened you amazing film. We are thrilled to hear that the screening was a Stellar event that celebrated films for all levels because that is one of QCCFF's goals. It's good to hear that you all had a good time and we are excited by your enthusiasm to submit future content. Here's to more Stellar moments in cinema! Thank you!