San Francisco Dance Film Festival (SFDFF) is a multi-day international event showcasing the best in dance film from around the world. With the recent additions of VR/360 films, live performances, gallery installations, and screenings of live captures from the world's great stages, SFDFF has become one of the most respected and influential dance film festivals. The festival now awards cash prizes and produces a touring reel to expand the reach of its programming.

A non-profit organization operating year round, SFDFF has the mission of supporting independent artists through screenings, panels, filmmaking workshops, and original film productions that bring together professionals from the communities of dance, filmmaking, and music in unprecedented collaborations.

Entering its ninth season in 2018, the festival continues to seek groundbreaking work in the field of screendance, and welcomes submissions of dance-based narrative shorts and features, documentaries, live performance captures, installations, and music videos.

Filmmaker Benefits:

— Eligibility for filmmaker cash awards up to $1,000
— Free Festival Pass providing admission to all programs and events during the festival
— Industry networking and discovery opportunities. Several of the films screened at SFDFF have gone on to receive distribution offers.
— Inclusion in our permanent digital archive.
— Opportunities for further exposure via our “On the Road” touring reel and other educational outreach programs
— “Official SFDFF Selection” laurel to help promote your film

Awards & Prizes

All films selected for the Festival are eligible for the following awards. Winners will be chosen by independent award jury.

— Best Documentary ($1,000)
— Best Live Performance Capture ($500)
— Best Screendance Film
• Under 10 minutes ($500)
• Over 10 minutes ($500)
— Best Student Film ($500)
— Best Art/Experimental ($500)

Audience Favorite awards, selected by audience survey from the individual screendance shorts programs, will be announced the week following the festival.

Rules & Terms

FILM COMPETITION GENERAL RULES & GUIDELINES

— All dance-based films of any style or length will be considered.

— Films must have a production date of 2015 or later.

— Student filmmakers must submit a current, valid student ID or proof of enrollment at the time the film was made, with your submission.

— Include high-resolution film stills and/or production photos with your submission. Remember to include photo credits.

— As fellow artists we take to heart the amount of work put into each film. Therefore, we are careful to ensure that each film is screened by at least three reviewers.

EXHIBITION FORMATS
Selected films will be requested in their native frame rate in QuickTime format using one of the following codecs: ProRes, ProRes HQ, or ProRes 4444. Blu-ray may be requested as an additional option for films over 20 minutes ONLY. A ProRes file will also be required as backup.

RELEASE
— The individual or production company submitting the film hereby warrants that they have cleared all necessary copyrights, including any underlying rights, to submit this film and its supporting materials to SFDFF and will hold SFDFF harmless from and against any and all third party claims.

— By submitting your film, SFDFF is hereby granted the right to utilize any submitted materials, including video and still images for purposes of promotion of the 2018 Festival and for future institutional promotion of SFDFF.

— Once submitted, a film cannot be withdrawn for any reason.
14 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Kitty McNamee

    SO glad that I could attend - what an incredible festival celebrating screen dance. Great programming - wonderful open communication and a real sense of global community coming together around dance!

    October 2018
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  • Sean Wirz

    Great, great, great festival! We were invited with our dance short AKASHA and were screened together with fantastic works from all around the world. The team is very professional and friendly. I attended the festival and was amazed at how many volunteers worked hard to ensure a very cool festival! Definitely worth it!

    October 2018
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  • clotilde Rullaud

    I've been extremely happy to have the opportunity to attend the festival. My film was part of the Art/Experimental category and therefore it was screened in the fabulous gallery of Catharine Clark for an enthusiastic and sold-out audience. I'm really thankful that Randall and Catharine chose my film to be screened in this very unique venue. It was special.
    Thank YOU!

    October 2018
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  • david masters

    I loved attending the festival. Creatively it's really big but the vibe is one of friendliness and approachability. This makes it easy to meet people and make connections whilst having access to great work, much which won't be readily available to view elsewhere. That I had a film in competition was a bonus.

    November 2017
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  • Katherine Fisher

    This festival is one of the leading dance film festival in the world.

    My film was screened at a beautiful theater with a very high quality projector. I was able to network with creatives and producers from across the industry as well as to participate in thought provoking panel discussions. This festival did wonders for increasing my film's visibility on social media platforms and beyond.

    Greta and her team treat filmmakers with respect and understand how challenging it is to create work within this genre. Thanks guys for inspiring me to keep making movies!

    November 2017
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