Experimental films are a great way for directors to show how creative and groundbreaking their work can be—and what better way to show off a penchant for the unconventional than submitting to an experimental film festival? Avant-garde trailblazers David Lynch and Guy Maddin launched their careers at these events; Lynch screened his unsettling body horror feature “Eraserhead” at the 1977 Los Angeles International Film Exposition (aka Filmex), and Maddin premiered his surrealist short “The Dead Father” at the 1985 Toronto International Film Festival.
If you’re an experimental filmmaker hoping to follow in their offbeat footsteps, check out these five film festivals focused on the surreal, abstract, and uncanny.
1. Experimental Film Fest
April Fool’s deadline: April 1
May Day deadline: May 1
Flip a Coin Day deadline: June 1
Doctor’s Day Deadline: July 1
Final deadline: Aug. 1
Held in New Bern, North Carolina, the Experimental Film Fest has been showing the most unusual, macabre, offbeat, ugly, beautiful, and purely experimental films to its dedicated audience for the last seven years. Judges whittle down approximately 250 submissions to 20 films, which are then screened over a day in September at the picturesque Craven Arts Council & Gallery Bank of the Arts. This cinema and gallery is the ideal home for such work, as the Experimental Film Fest celebrates the medium in as unconventional but still entertaining a manner as possible.
Prizes include festival winner, critic’s choice, best animation, best student film, audience favorite, and best AI film categories. Interested filmmakers should submit their own downloadable film (15 minutes max, any creation date) via FilmFreeway.
The Experimental Film Fest takes place Sept. 19.
2. Antimatter
Early deadline: April 17
Final deadline: June 26
This year will mark the 29th edition of the Antimatter film festival, which has been bringing various forms of media art to Victoria, British Columbia, since 1998. The 11-day festival aims to celebrate art in a variety of different forms, showcasing experimental video, audio, and film at the Deluge Contemporary Art gallery—one of Canada’s most historic and intimate buildings.
Beyond screenings, filmmakers also participate in talks and Q&As of their work, which are made available online. Rather than handing out prizes, Antimatter prides itself on being a noncompetitive art-focused setting that avoids commercial and industry ties. To be considered for inclusion in the festival, films must be independently produced and completed after Jan. 1, 2024.
Antimatter will take place Oct. 15–25.
3. Altered Images—Experimental Film and Music Fest
Earlybird deadline: April 16
Regular deadline: Aug. 16
Although Altered Images has only been running for four years, its showcase of experimental film, music, and performance means it’s already regarded as a highlight of the filmmaking calendar. Held in Peckham, South East London, the festival proudly invites experimental and original works of new media, sound, performance, and activism from across the world, especially those that are inclusive and feminist.
Filmmakers interested in having their work screened at this nonstop creative showcase should submit one to three films 25 minutes or less in length via FilmFreeway.
Altered Images—Experimental Film and Music Fest takes place Oct. 17–18.
4. The Video Art & Experimental Film Festival
Early deadline: April 19
Standard deadline: June 29
Late deadline: Aug. 3
Extended late deadline: Aug. 31
Held at NYC’s renowned Cinema Village, the Video Art & Experimental Film Festival screens animation, music videos, documentaries, fashion films, visual narratives, dance films, and other experimental works that explore the medium of film in pioneering and thought-provoking ways. Since 2010, filmmakers like Michelle Gomez, David LaChapelle, Kalup Linzy, and Marie Schuller have had their work screened at the festival, with notable panelists including author Mark Alpert, MoMA PS1 founder Alanna Heiss, critic Lyle Rexer, and the Whitney’s former director David Ross.
Aspiring festival attendees can submit their rights-cleared films that are under 20 minutes in length and completed after Jan. 1, 2024, with English subtitles if non-English.
The Video Art & Experimental Film Festival will take place Nov. 13–15.
5. Brussels Independent Film Festival
Earlybird deadline: March 23
Not-so-early deadline: April 23
Ongoing deadline: May 23–July 23
Almost regular deadline: Aug. 23
Regular deadline: Sept. 23
Extended deadline: Oct. 23
FilmFreeway extended deadline: Nov. 23
In less than a decade since the Brussels Independent Film Festival’s 2018 revival following a six-year hiatus, it’s become a Cannes Film Week and IMDb-qualifying film festival, hosted prestigious directors like Pedro Almodóvar, François Ozon, and Nanni Moretti, and was even named one of the top 50 film festivals in the world by Final Cut Magazine. The festival primarily screens independent and experimental films from up-and-coming and lesser-known talent, with the aim of giving them the exposure to help them thrive at more eminent festivals.
Prizes in the form of edible Belgian chocolates are granted to the best narrative feature and short, documentary feature and short, animated, experimental, music video, and Belgian films. Interested filmmakers can submit completed shorts or feature films up to 120 minutes long, in any genre, with English subtitles if non-English, using a separate entry form per film.
The Brussels Independent Film Festival will take place Feb. 1–7, 2027.
