The City of Edinburg promotes the visual arts and the growing film industry in the Rio Grande Valley and hosts the South Texas International Film Festival.

The South Texas International Film Festival is an annual celebration of the art of cinema. STXIFF is a competitive film festival that showcases the work of visionary filmmakers from all over the world. Based in Edinburg, Texas, STXIFF showcases local, regional, national, and international films and prides itself as a welcoming hub for thriving and aspiring storytellers. We focus on personal engagement with filmmakers with a South Texas Hospitality flare!

The City of Edinburg invites you to submit and attend the 11th South Texas International Film Festival to be held from September 10 through 13, 2025. Our Festival is geared towards new and experienced filmmakers and filmgoers alike by offering a variety of events including screenings, workshops, panels, mixers, and of course our iconic Awards Ceremony.

Any questions, please email stxiff@cityofedinburg.com or contact us through FilmFreeway.

These are the prizes that may be awarded at the 11th STXIFF:
• Best International Feature Film
• Best U.S. Feature Film
• Best Documentary Feature Film
• Best International Short Film
• Best U.S. Short Film
• Best Texas Short Film
• Best RGV Short Film
• Best Documentary Short Film
• Best Music Video
• Best Texas Young Filmmaker Short Film
• The Pitch Award
• TX Young Filmmakers Pitch Award
• South Texas Awards
To qualify for South Texas Regional Awards, films must be and shot in South Texas with a South Texas crew and cast.
• Edinburg Film Friendly Award (must be filmed in Edinburg, TX) In your cover letter, please include if you filmed in Edinburg (include locations).

We reserve the right to not give an award or announce a winner in one or more categories.

General Submission Guidelines
1. Film submissions will be admitted only through FilmFreeway.
2. Submit your film only when your film is in the most complete and finished form possible.
3. Submissions must be in English or have English subtitles at the time submitted.
4. Submissions will be considered incomplete if the following are not included in the initial FilmFreeway submission: Film, Poster, and Synopsis.
5. The submitter is responsible for ensuring that their screener link and password are active throughout the entire submission cycle. In the event of a password or URL change after submitting, email stxiff@cityofedinburg.com immediately.
6. Feature films must be between forty (40) minutes and one-hundred and twenty (120) minutes in length, including credits. Short films must be under 40 minutes including credits. Music Videos must be between two (2) minutes and five (5) minutes.
7. All films will be eligible for a possible showcase, but to be eligible for competition and thus an award, the film:
a) Must have been completed after January 1, 2022
b) Must have the rights to all songs and other copyright material.
c) Must not be publicly available online or physically for purchase or renting. The film may be online but private (i.e., password or private link). Music Videos and Young Filmmakers are exempt from this guideline (7c).
8. The minimum requirement for selected films is H.264 codec, 1920x1080, mp4.
9. If selected, you must submit the following by July 8, 2025 by 11:59 PM:
a) link to a downloadable film projection file with closed captions if available
b) High Resolution (300 DPI) film poster – posters will be printed and displayed 18x24, vertical
c) Short, film synopsis - max of 40 words for printed program; optional longer synopsis for the film’s webpage
d) Press picture of director(s) (HD) for the film’s webpage
e) Director(s) biography for the film’s webpage
f) Film trailer or teaser and/or three (3) to five (5) film stills for the film’s webpage
10. A Jury of industry professionals will determine the winners of each category. The decisions will be final and unappealable and will be announced during the Award Ceremony.
11. Staff of the STXIFF and STXIFF Planning Committee members may not participate in any of the films which compete for an award. This includes but is not limited to actress, actor, director, writer, producer, or any other member of the production team of the film. If the producer and/or director wishes to appeal a crew member’s conflict of interest, they may do so by contacting the STXIFF staff before submitting a film. The STXIFF will review the appeal and give a response within 15 days of informing the STXIFF Staff. Deadline dates may be affected by your appeal; we recommend informing STXIFF Staff 1 month prior to a deadline.
12. By submitting your film, you grant permission to STXIFF to use your film trailer, stills, press picture, synopsis, bio, up to thirty (30) seconds of your film, and all other submitted information for Festival promotion without limitation and at its sole and complete discretion in perpetuity for the production and promotion of the South Texas International Film Festival.
13. The South Texas International Film Festival takes all necessary precautions to prevent copy and intellectual rights from being stolen, however, the film submitter takes all responsibility for any loss and stolen property by submitting to STXIFF and will to the maximum extent allowed by law agree to indemnify and hold harmless and defend the City of Edinburg, the South Texas International Film Festival, its agents, employees, officers, and volunteers from and against any claim, loss, damage, liability, and expense including reasonable attorney’s fees, incurred or suffered by them by reason of all claims, demands, or causes of actions asserted or that may be asserted against any or all of the named parties, whether alleging intentional or negligent acts or omissions, and whether seeking compensatory or punitive damages, and involving, arising out of, or relating to the submission agreement and any other claims against any staff or agent of the South Texas International Film Festival and the City of Edinburg.
14. By submitting your film, you are allowing STXIFF to screen/stream your film during the event dates. If you decide to remove your film from screening, you must notify STXIFF staff at least two months prior to the event date. Your film will not be eligible for a prize if it does not screen during the event.
15. Any other situation not considered in these submission guidelines will be reviewed by the South Texas International Film Festival.
16. We recommend you carefully review these guidelines and please email stxiff@cityofedinburg.com if you have any additional questions.
17. DISCLAIMER: In an effort to ensure fairness and transparency within our regional film competition, we invite professional filmmakers from outside the Rio Grande Valley as part of the programming team to view and select the films in our RGV competition. This process provides an equal platform for all local filmmakers in the RGV.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Isaiah I. Navarro

    Such a warm and welcoming space for creatives of all levels. I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet so many lovely people and see so many great films. It fills my heart with joy to see a festival such as this coming out of the Rio Grande Valley and inspiring future filmmakers.

    September 2024
  • I've attended many festivals and The South Texas International Film Festival is one of the absolute best! It's meticulously organized and staffed with a supportive, knowledgeable and gracious team. We are very, very proud to have the At The Flash Show Deck be a Finalist in The Pitch! HIGHLY Recommended!!!

    September 2024
  • A professional, well-organized, and top-notch festival. It was one of the best festivals I've ever participated in. Wishing success to the organizing team.

    September 2024
  • Eli Vazquez

    We are so happy to have won the Best U.S. Short! We weren't able to attend but the team were great at sharing all the info needed and would have loved to attend!

    October 2023
  • Pros: This is that rare festival that is open free to the public! That means the audience contains more than just other filmmakers and we can afford to take our entire cast, crew, and family there to experience the festival. Plus they had a fun celebrity panel and awards dinner.

    Room for improvement: Hopefully, as the festival grows, they'll keep that open-to-the-public focus, but also include just one filmmakers-only event where we can meet each other, exchange contact information, and collaborate on future projects.

    The weekend was a blast and the organizers make you feel like a million bucks. I'm already planning to submit another film for next year!

    October 2023