An IMDb qualified festvial , Rotterdam Independent Film Festival (Riff) is a brand new, up-and-coming online seasonal short film festival in Netherland, a country with great filmmakers like Johan van der Keuken and popular international film festivals. Riff is an exclusive online short film competition, and our main goal is to showcase the brilliant short projects for a diverse audience of cinephiles.

RIFF is more than just a Film event; it is a strong connection among all filmmakers worldwide. RIFF is a hub for international filmmakers to celebrate their premieres, thank their cast and crew, and meet their fans. Exposing young talented filmmakers to an environment of industry professionals with vast experience in their field is a priority for us. One of our top aims is to help first-time filmmakers promote their talent regardless of their age. The objective of RIFF is to provide support to indie filmmakers globally through reviewing, judging, marketing, and distribution networking. We aim to create networks that lead to further opportunities for filmmakers.

RIFF is an online award film festival. You have two steps in front to advance to the annual event. At first, each season, our jury selects the winners of each category through "private" screenings. Every submitted film has a chance to be a winner for each season. In the next step, the winner projects must confirm if they are interested in being part of our online event. If you are selected for an online event, you need to send us materials for online screening.

Our judges consist of filmmakers and industry professionals from 5 different countries. We believe that having such a multicultural team behind our festival helps our festival thrive among Indie Festivals.

Awards & Prizes

Feature Film
Short Film
Male Director (for both short and feature)
Female Director (for both short and feature)
Producer
First-time filmmaker shorts
Student short
Documentary (for both short and feature)
Animation
Experimental
Horror Short
Dance Short
Sci-fi Short
Covid Short
LGBTQ Short
Women Empowerment
Micro Short
Acting in Short (for both male and female)
Ensemble Acting
Original Screenwriting (for both short and feature)
Unproduced Script (for both short and feature)
Editing
Original Score
Cinematography
Web Series
TV pilot
Music Video

Rules & Terms

Your submission implies that you have the legal right to represent and submit this film for consideration, along with your acceptance of RIFF regulations.

1) International films are required to have English subtitles
2) Short films are 50 mins and under. Micro short is under 5 minutes
3) To submit a film or script, you must have created the project yourself, own the rights or have permission from the content owner to submit the film to us.
4) Films must be 2016 or newer to qualify for an award.
5) Our festival is run by a small group of volunteers, film enthusiasts, and professional film judges. Every effort is made to provide excellent communication. If there is anything we can assist with, please send us an email, and we will contact you back within 72 hours.
6) One entry fee per category. The same film can be entered into one or more categories, but each category requires an entry fee.
7) Only the winner project has the chance for the online screening. Given that we might not receive all the film screening materials on time, we reserve the right to change the time of the online event. If we change the date, the new information will be communicated to the affected filmmakers (the winners's one).
8 ) We communicate with filmmakers through emails, so we appreciate that you check your email regularly.
9) All fees are non-refundable

114 Reviews
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  • Jaclyn Powell

    Thank you so much to the Rotterdam Independent Film Festival for naming Kill Switch as the best screenplay for July 2022! A very exciting win for our team! Come check us out on Twitter @KillSwitchMovie!

    August 2022
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  • Nilesh Chandrakant Nevgi

    Thank you Rotterdam Independent Film Festival for selecting " THE SILENT SCREAM " as Semi - Finalists in "Women empowerment short" category.
    This inspires me to get better at my art .i will be back with future projects.... Thank you! .🙏

    August 2022
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  • Frances Sapphire

    Thank you! My film La Carrozza dei Sogni (The Carriage of Dreams) arrived to SEMIFINALIST at your Festival..Hope Great success for It and to best consideration!

    July 2022
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  • Mark Loquan

    Honored to be an award winner for July 2022. Thanks for the recognition.

    July 2022
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  • Anna Aleksandrova

    Thank you! It was awesome!!! :)

    July 2022
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