The Amelia Island Film Festival is celebrating an accumulation of 16 years in coastal cinematic excellence and island film festival history by bringing together award-winning industry professionals, celebrities, influencers, financiers and emerging filmmakers to collaborate, educate and celebrate cinema. The festival team is also excited to announce new leadership and resources, thanks to a partnership with non-profit organization, Film Amelia.

Featuring expanded programming, The Amelia Island Film Festival now boasts a variety of captivating screenings, empowering panel discussions and unprecedented access to leaders in entertainment.

AIFF's mission is to showcase, inspire, support and celebrate content creators while connecting the business and financial industry to the growing entertainment ecosphere in the Southeastern United States. Our 4-day festival showcases emerging and experienced filmmakers in the following categories: Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short, Student Short, International Short and Hollywood South. Selected filmmakers will have the opportunity to present projects in development for funding at the signature Pitch Competition.

As the premiere festival event in the Southeastern United States, AIFF is dedicated to supporting the next generation of new voices and perspectives. As filmmakers begin their 2023 festival circuit in paradise, the amalgamation of both a scenic island retreat and world-class industry showcase blends seamlessly to provide an experience unlike any other.

About Film Amelia
Film Amelia-Nassau, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to year-round education, training and workforce development initiatives as well as cultural celebrations including the annual Amelia Island Film Festival.

The 2023 film festival dates will be announced soon.

Awards & Prizes

The Amelia Island Film Festival presents a Grand Jury Prize + Audience Award in every submission category.

Narrative Feature Finalists will be given a Filmmaker pass and complimentary hotel accommodations for the duration of the festival.

Documentary Feature Finalists will be given a Filmmaker pass and complimentary hotel accommodations for the duration of the festival.

Documentary Short Finalists will be given a Filmmaker pass and complimentary hotel accommodations for the duration of the festival.

Student Short Finalists will be given a complimentary Filmmaker Pass.

International Short Finalists will be given a complimentary Filmmaker Pass.

Hollywood South Short Finalists will be given a complimentary Filmmaker Pass.

Summit Southeast Pitch Competition Finalists will also be given a complimentary pass.

Rules & Terms

RULES & TERMS OF SUBMISSIONS
By submitting your project for consideration in the 2023 Amelia Island Film Festival, you acknowledge that you have read and agreed to all of the following rules and terms.

SCREENERS
All projects must be submitted either by a direct upload to FilmFreeway or as a password protected Vimeo link attached to your submission. Online screeners must be available to stream. The submitter is responsible for ensuring that their screener link and password are active. We will not notify you if your password does not work. We DO NOT accept any films that must be downloaded (ex: Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.), DVD or Blu-Ray screeners and films for competition that have already been released theatrically or have DVD sales or online streaming prior to the completion of the 2023 Amelia Island Film Festival.

While we do not require a world premiere in any category, premiere status is taken into consideration when making final selections so please keep us informed of previous screenings or premiere status.

All entries must either be in the English language or be subtitled in the English language. By submitting your project, you acknowledge that the Amelia Island Film Festival will not pay to present your work.

DEADLINES
All film submissions, including online screeners, must be uploaded on FilmFreeway ON or BEFORE the published deadline and must be accompanied by a submission fee paid in full. It is the submitter’s responsibility to make sure that all submission requirements are met.

NO REFUNDS will be granted to any submission for any reason.

Waivers are granted via invitation only. We will not honor any unsolicited waiver requests.

COMPLETION DATE
ALL films submitted for consideration must have been filmed and completed AFTER July 1, 2020. No exceptions will be considered.

JUDGING
An esteemed panel of jurors with deep industry experience will judge the films chosen for competition. Awards are left to the sole discretion of the judges, and a committee selected by the director of the Amelia Island Film Festival will make any necessary rulings.

Winners are announced at the Amelia Icon Awards gala at the Amelia Island Film Festival. We encourage all competition films to have a representative in attendance.

All Filmmakers will be notified on or around December 2022.

COPYRIGHT & LEGAL TERMS
By submitting your film for consideration to the 2023 Amelia Island Film Festival, you authorize that your work is cleared for festival exhibition and accept full legal responsibility for the intellectual property therein. The submitter and all filmmakers associated with the project shall indemnify and hold harmless the Amelia Island Film Festival, Film Amelia-Nassau, Inc., and any representative or affiliates from and against any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney's fees and costs of the court) which may be incurred by reason of any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss of or damage to the screening videos entered.
30 Reviews
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  • Tom DiDonato

    Thank you for showing our film Pivot at your festival. In the world of on line festivals, it was nice to see our film okay at a physical venue. We are grateful that Amelia Island understands the importance of showing positive stories during this difficult time.

    March 2022
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  • Bridgett Ladd

    I had a great experience at the Amelia Island Film Festival. I was grateful to have the opportunity to screen my Documentary plus the location is exceptional, right next to the beach.

    March 2022
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  • Meredith Thomas

    It was an honor to present "Disconnected" at the Amelia Island Film Festival for its in-person festival premiere. I was very disappointed to have missed attending the festival but another film shoot kept me in Los Angeles. Thank you nonetheless for the opportunity to share the film's important message.

    March 2022
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  • Jim Schneider

    A beautiful location and terrific films!
    I was honored that "Jack and the Treehouse" was part of it.

    March 2022
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  • Iesha Price

    I had a great experience at Amelia Island Film Festival and looking forward to next year's festival. Hopefully, we'll have a feature to submit.

    March 2022
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