Rotterdam Independent Film Festival (Riff) is a brand new, up-and-coming seasonal short film festival in Netherland. It is an exclusive online short film competition. Our main goal is to showcase the brilliant short projects in Rotterdam's beautiful city for a diverse audience of cinephiles.

RIFF is more than just a Film Festival; 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 onlinAward film festival. You have three 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, we select few films from the winner projects for the annual event. The outcome of this stage will be announced by Oct 10, 2021. If you get to the second stage, we will get in touch with you before that day (not getting a notification from us means that you are not a selected film for the second stage). If you advance to the yearly event, your project will move to the third step, and 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. Our diverse judges allow all filmmakers to have their films reviewed by them with such a vast knowledge in the art of filmmaking.

Awards & Prizes

Short Film
Male Director
Female Director
Producer
First time filmmaker shorts
Student short
Documentary
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
Unproduced Script
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) All fees are non-refundable
39 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Didier MULLERAS

    Very happy to have been part of this Festival,  with dance films from my "DFC dance for camera project" (COLONY,  DRESS CODE, HOME 23.20, FLOW, WAITING ROOM ). Being selected/awarded was a great honor. Great communication and feedback. Wish you all the best for your next events.
    Didier Mulleras
    choreographer - visual artist - film maker (France)

    July 2021
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  • Maria Brenda

    A well-organized festival. Thank you for recognizing my film. It was a great honor. I will definitely enter my future projects.

    July 2021
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  • Marcus Hamm

    The Black League of Superheroes cast and crew are proud to have received nominee status for Rotterdam Independent Film Festival. Thank you so much for your consideration and we look forward to submitting more projects in the future! .

    June 2021
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  • Joel Barkley

    Universe Beyond Time is so very grateful to have been included in the Rotterdam Independent Film Festival! Great communication and participation! Just fabulous!

    June 2021
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  • Alexandre Bertella

    Amazing festival. Very happy to participate.

    June 2021
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