Trenton Film Festival screens new, cutting-edge film of various genres from around the world, offering filmmakers the opportunity to interact with audiences and connect with other filmmakers at various stages in their career. Located half-way between New York City and Philadelphia, Trenton is a small city with easy access to one of the largest film markets in the world, yet intimate enough to give new film exposure that might be hard to achieve in a larger place or festival.

Trenton Film Festival returns for its 12th year on March 26-29, 2020 with more meet-ups to afford filmmakers and audiences expanded opportunities to connect and share their love of film, and filmmaker seminars to allow filmmakers to hone their craft and learn from each other.

Awards & Prizes

Prizes will be awarded at the Closing Night Ceremony for:

James Solheim Award for Best Film
Best Documentary Feature
Best Documentary Short
Best Narrative Feature
Best Narrative Short
Best Animated Film
Best New Media (Music Video, Spoken Word Poetry, New Media)
Audience Favorite

Prizes do not include a monetary award.

Rules & Terms

To be considered, films must have been completed after 1/1/2018.

Films must be submitted on-line prior to submission deadlines. By submitting a film you agree that if your film is selected, the Trenton Film Society (TFS) may screen your film at the 2019 Trenton Film Festival (3/28-3/31/2019) without payment of screening fees and may include your film in festival publicity and publications. Should your film need to be withdrawn for any reason, please do so no less than 30 days before festival date.

TFS charges admission to screenings to provide a portion of funding required to produce events such as the Trenton Film Festival; by submitting a film you agree that TFS may charge admission to screenings that include your film and represent that this does not violate any agreements that you have with third parties.

Films must be submitted via on-line screener.

If your film is selected, high definition digital .mov or .mp4 file is the requested format for presentation copy. We do not have equipment to present your film in 35MM or DCP.

For digital files, .mp4 or .mov files must be compressed with the H.264 codec at 24, 25 or 30 frames per second, 720p or 1080p for high definition or 480p for standard definition, and 2-channel (stereo) audio.

Do not submit originals; we will do our utmost to care for your media, but can not accept responsibility for loss or damage.

Presentation copies must be sent with shipping charges prepaid. Presentation copies will be returned if pre-paid shipping envelope is provided for USPS, FedEx, UPS or DHL.

Presentation copies must be submitted by Jan. 10, 2020.

Please Note: As a small organization that relays on volunteers, we cannot provide airfare or cover transportation to or from the festival. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Please me mindful of this when submitting films from overseas.

13 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Patrick Green

    I wasn't able to attend my screening of "For Your Consideration" but the lineup of films was very impressive.

    June 2019
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  • Jon Rehr

    Intimate theater, but films looked and sounded great. Q & A afterwards was great and audience asked a lot of questions! Everyone working the festival was very accommodating.

    May 2019
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  • M D Silverstein

    It was a pleasure to be screened in Trenton and while I couldn't attend it was great that people really enjoyed seeing my film in NJ. Thank you for having The Weight of Success there!

    April 2019
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  • Greg Sego

    A wonderful community event. Very inclusive and rewarding in the diverse content shown. Do check it out!

    April 2019
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  • Taylor Schafer

    The Trenton Film Festival is a hidden gem among Mid-Atlantic film festivals. The quality of films selected was excellent compared to other film festivals of similar size. The venue was a lovely converted church with great acoustics and a large screen. Members of the Trenton Film Society communicated with me consistently, promoted my film on social media, and even offered to pick me up at the train station upon my arrival. The Q&A had a fantastic moderator and great questions from the audience. I connected with many filmmakers and exchanged my information with several of them. My biggest regret is not going to all of the screenings! I highly recommend this festival for filmmakers looking to showcase their film to a committed group of cinephiles and make new connections.

    March 2019
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