***We're excited to announce that our venue this year is Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center! Our original venue, The Screening Room, was forced to close suddenly. Hallwalls is a Buffalo Institution, highly respected in the arts community, located in a former church now owned by recording artist Ani DeFranco. Hallwalls' screening room seats up to 80 people and is located below their art gallery. The building is in a neighborhood in downtown Buffalo with plenty of hotels, restaurants, cafes, and bars nearby.

Finding a new venue meant changing our dates from May29th - June 2nd to August 7th - 11th. This will be the first time we've run during the summer, which means visiting filmmakers can fully enjoy the city and Niagara Falls. We've also extended our final submissions deadline to June 6th.

Valkyrie International Film Festival (VIFF) spotlights films directed by women of all backgrounds and advances the cause of women in film. VIFF was founded by Tamar Lamberson and her daughter, Kaelin Lamberson. VIFF seeks impactful films in all genres. If a woman directed it, we want to see it! VIFF screens narrative, documentary, and experimental shorts and features. Every film selected for screening must have been directed by a woman.

VIFF serves as a platform for female directors to come together, support each other’s work, and discuss the challenges and advances of women in film. The programmers present awards but view the event as a celebration rather than a competition.

We are accepting all female-directed films, of all genres, completed 2023 – present.

Awards & Prizes

Awards in the following categories:

Narrative Short (1 - 40 minutes)
Documentary Short (1 - 40 minutes)
Experimental Short (1 - 40 minutes)
Western New York Short (1 - 40 minutes)
Student Film (any length)
Animation (any length)
Music Video (any length)
Narrative Feature (41 - 120 minutes)
Documentary Feature (41 - 120 minutes)
Experimental Feature (41 - 120 minutes)
Western New York Feature (41 – 120 minutes)

We reserve the right to combine categories.

Rules & Terms

1. NO WAIVERS.
2. Only films directed by women will be selected.
3. Any co-directors must also be women.
4. Films must be in English or subtitled in English.
5. All exhibition screeners must be MP4 digital files.
6. All films must have been completed 2023 – present.
7. Anyone submitting a film to VIFF warrants that they are authorized to do so.
8. We will not accept films that heavily rely on A.I.
9. We will not screen films that are already available online.
10. We will not screen local films that premiere one month before or two weeks after our festival.
11. We will not screen your film if you do not provide requested materials by our deadline. This means files in the format and size we specify.
32 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Geno Delmaro

    Great people doing a great thing can't wait for next year!

    June 2025
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  • Carla Aicken

    We were honoured to be selected and win an award at the festival. Our film was greatly received, and it felt like a wonderful community of talent we are proud to be a part of. 1000% worth submitting too!

    June 2025
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  • Dawn Sellers

    I am so happy that I was able to attend this wonderful festival. Thank you for making everyone feel so welcome and valued and for celebrating the work of these bad a** female directors. These films were all fantastic and I am so honored to be part of it and to have my short Almost Boston nominated for an award. I hope to be able to come to your festival again and to follow the success of it all! Buffalo NY has a great film community!

    June 2025
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  • Livi DarConte

    Absolutely loved this festival! Such a welcoming and inclusive film community. It was so awesome to meet other creatives and enjoy some amazing films. 100% recommend!

    June 2025
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  • Amanda R. Woomer

    There is something special about the VIFF. I attended last year as just a customer and was so inspired by the festival and what all these women created, I was determined to submit my own film.

    It was an honor to be part of this year’s festival. Communication leading up to the festival was fantastic, and the excitement among the filmmakers and festival coordinators was contagious. The venue is intimate and supports a wonderful family-owned business. I hope to be part of VIFF again in the future.

    June 2025
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