"Honoring the young and the old, endorsing community, advocating inspiration and lauding humanitarian gestures — all sentiments that sum up Woodstock and its 'Fiercely Independent' film festival quite well." - Hollywood Reporter

The Woodstock Film Festival has established itself as one of the best independent film events in the country by premiering exceptional films by established and emerging filmmakers. The fest also presents A-list concerts, parties, panels, and creates innovative and stimulating programming including Focus on Music, Exposure and the Youth Initiative.

The festival has drawn rave reviews nationwide from filmmakers, industry members, film lovers and the media alike. indieWIRE named WFF one of the top 50 film festivals in the world and Moviemaker included WFF on of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World.

"It's a great festival... It's what a film festival should be, which is really independent films showcasing the work of filmmakers you might not know about… I love that, and Woodstock is a town that goes hand in hand with that. I can't think of another place that seems better suited to have an independent film festival than Woodstock." -Paul Rudd

"The Woodstock film festival is a haven for those who love independent and challenging cinema. The spirit of the Namesake of the festival is in the very fiber of the festival itself-freewheeling, experimental, searching and visionary.” - Julie Taymor

Esteemed participants from the film world have included Karen Allen, Darren Aronofsky, Kevin Bacon, Alec Baldwin, Ellen Barkin, Signe Baumane, Elmer Bernstein, David Bromberg, Eamonn Bowles, Bob Berney, Bruce Beresford, Joe Berlinger, Les Blank, Peter Bogdanovich, Benjamin Bratt, Steve Buscemi, Paul Cantelon, Jennifer Connelly, Courteney Cox, Michael Cristofer, Paul Dano, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jonathan Demme, Matt Dillon, Donovan, Vincent D'Onofrio, Olympia Dukakis, Griffin Dunne, Mark Duplass, Steve Earle, Giancarlo Esposito, Susie Essman, Edie Falco, Vera Farmiga, America Ferrera, Larry Fessenden, Bela Fleck, Ben Foster, Cary Fukunaga, Liz Garbus, Peter Gabriel, Andy Garcia, Leon Gast, Alex Gibney, Debra Granik, Shep Gordon, Jonathan Gray, Adrian Grenier, Bruce Greenwood, Arlo Guthrie, Marcia Gay Harden, Catherine Hardwicke, Woody Harrelson, Ethan Hawke, Todd Haynes, Matthew Heineman, Gill Holland, Ted Hope, Timothy Hutton, Alejandro G. Inarritu, Jim Jarmusch, Tony Kaye, Sally Kirkland, Jason Kliot, Barbara Kopple, Ray Kurzweil, Tony Kushner, Joseph Gordon-Leavitt, Ang Lee, Melissa Leo, David Linde, Richard Linklater, Laura Linney, Jeff Lipsky, Lucy Liu, Christopher Lloyd, Albert Maysles, Ron Mann, Hugh Masekela, Angela McCluskey, Rebecca Miller, Brett Morgen, Oren Moverman, Mira Nair, Tim Blake Nelson, Ron Nyswaner, D.A. Pennebaker, Rosie Perez, Pinetop Perkins, Lydia Dean Pilcher, Bill Plympton, Parker Posey, Natalie Portman, Bill Pullman, Aidan Quinn, Tom Quinn, Bingham Ray, Norman Reedus, Keanu Reeves, Tim Robbins, Sam Rockwell, Sonny Rollins, Paul Rudd, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Saraf, Ted Sarandos, Nancy Savoca, James Schamus, Liev Schreiber, David Schwimmer, Annabella Sciorra, Seann William Scott, Jonathan Sehring, Susan Seidelman, Pauly Shore, Lori Singer, John Sloss, Kevin Smith, Fisher Stevens, David Strathairn, Lemore Syvan, Amber Tamblyn, Lili Taylor, Julie Taymor, Uma Thurman, Stanley Tucci, Christine Vachon, Robert Vaughn, Paul Wesley, Haskell Wexler, Jedd Wider, Todd Wider and many more.

Awards & Prizes

Cash, prizes and/or services are given out for Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best Shorts (Narrative, Student, Animation and Documentary), and Best Cinematography (the Haskell Wexler Award). Best Editing and Audience Awards are also presented for Narrative and Documentary features. 2014 inaugurated the Ultra Indie Award, recognizing the best ultra low budget film. Recent AWARD SPONSORS have included Gigantic Pictures, Films We Like, Markertek, Gray Krauss Sandler Des Rochers, Panavision NY, Black Magic Design and others.

Rules & Terms

All rights must be cleared.

Previous screening information must be filled in, in order to be considered.

Films must be Hudson Valley Premieres.

No resubmissions of films except for new versions.

Be sure to include your FilmFreeway tracking I.D. number on it.

We prefer to receive a VIMEO or other online link to your film INSTEAD OF A DVD.

If you are sending a DVD instead of digital content, DVD's MUST be clearly labeled with film title, please do not include paper labels on DVDs.

You may submit a Bluray, but please also include a regular DVD.

Please do not submit a press kit, it is not necessary for the film screening process and will not be used. Please save your time, money and the environment. Thank you and we look forward to viewing your film.

7 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Axel Kroell

    Incredible energy, communication and programming! Bravo and thank you to all the organizers who made this experience unforgettable.

    November 2018
    Helpful
  • Emmett Goodman

    A great festival in a great environment. These guys are serious about independent filmmaking and promoting it. Definitely a worthwhile festival!

    October 2018
    Helpful
  • Josh Folan

    The screenings, both our own and others we were fortunate enough to be able to attend amidst all the wonderful craziness festivals inherently are, were beautiful and full of incredible people that all seemed to genuinely love film and filmmakers. The festival was gracious enough to secure housing with a couple in town for us, and they were two of the most wonderful and welcoming human beings I personally have ever met, and both their hospitality and personality made for a home base during the festival that was every bit as enjoyable and fulfilling as the time we spent out and about in Woodstock. Lastly, the general environment of the festival was, simply put, the best damn festival environment I have ever been part of. The staff, from full time personnel through every last volunteer, endlessly went out of their way for us and I struck up friendships with many of them that I hope extend far beyond just my week in town for the festival. This also carried over to the camaraderie the festival curates between the filmmakers – I hit it off with team members from numerous films that I have no doubt will lead to collaborations down the line. While this is not necessarily uncommon, that often happens at festivals, I would argue the laid back nature of the environment they've created does wonders to make that occurrence as easy and organic as possible, and that is not an argument that can be made for so many others I have been to in the past. There aren't many festivals I would return to without even having a film playing, but this is absolutely one of those, and if you're fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go I can't recommend doing so strongly enough.

    October 2018
    Helpful
  • Ken Mora

    First, this was the most active and engaged audience I've ever personally screened at. The Q & A was lively, and easily 2/3 of the audience stayed to hear it all. Second, the caliber of the animation in my block made me feel even better about my own.
    Woodstock as a well-run hospitality center. Centrally located and staffed all day with plenty of hearty snacks, fruit, refreshments, and helpful and friendly staff. Great for networking or just charging up your phone and checking out the program.
    I would be honored to return here.

    October 2018
    Helpful
  • Anni Sultany

    Unfortunately we haven't been able to attend the festival, but the contact was friendly and helpful and we always received updates and news by mail. They have a very helpful website and map with all informations for filmmakers and professionals who want to attend.

    October 2018
    Helpful