Ridgefield Independent Film Festival

The Ridgefield Independent Film Festival (RIFF) seeks to make the world a more compassionate place through the sharing of stories through cinema. We celebrate independent films from around the world that enlighten, entertain, and inspire moviegoers through compelling visual storytelling, by bringing films, filmmakers and film enthusiasts to the culturally vibrant community of Ridgefield, Connecticut for an annual festival that includes screenings, panel discussions, special events, and parties.

This year we are adding a BEST OF RIFF SHORTS festival to be held August 21st at The Ridgefield Playhouse. The Best of RIFF Shorts program will cull from past and present RIFF shorts to put together a 90 minute program followed by a panel discussion. We encourage all shorts entries to tag their entry for this added event.

At RIFF our focus is on the independent filmmaker. We strive to give the indie filmmaker an opportunity to showcase their work with a quality screening on a big screen in front of an audience of their peers and the general public. We seek to create a collaborative non-competitive environment where filmmakers can relax and enjoy themselves. For this reason we don't have competitive categories, but do offer an Emerging Filmmaker Award when we see talent we especially wish to acknowledge.

THIS YEAR'S RIFF hopes to be an IN PERSON festival for all of our events. We will adjust as the times dictate. As it is a transition year for us, we will be hosting a BEST OF RIFF Shorts Fest on August 21st at The Ridgefield Playhouse and will be moving our main festival back to May (when our original festival premiered) Join us May 18-21. We will continue accepting submissions throughout this year and into 2023 for the May Festival. All Shorts will be considered for our BEST OF RIFF Shorts Fest in August of 2022.

RIFF was conceived in order to bring independent filmmakers from around the world to the picturesque town of Ridgefield Connecticut and into the many beautiful venues in town. Ridgefield recently earned the distinction from the state of Connecticut as the first Connecticut town with a Cultural District designation.

All films are screened and selected by members of our vibrant community with an eye toward discovering new talent and a focus on visual storytelling, whatever the genre. Entries are judged on a point system for craft, originality, and storytelling.

So what are you waiting for? #Come RIFFwithUs