The Bensenville Arts Council is proud to present the third year of the Bensenville Short Film Festival! The BSFF aims to showcase short films of all genres, produced and directed by filmmakers from around the world.

All are welcome to submit their short works digitally to the festival. Works must be no longer than 15 minutes. All genres are welcome, from documentary, animation, romance, comedy, and beyond. At the festival, a selection of submitted short films will be shown, and awards will be presented, as chosen by the Bensenville Arts Council.

The deadline for submissions is February 1, 2024. The fee for submissions is $10 and is non-refundable.

All are welcome to join us at the festival on Thursday, March 7, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. at Bensenville's Center Theatre in Bensenville, Illinois. Tickets to the event will be sold in advance and can be purchased online (online ticket sales end at 6:00 p.m. on the evening of the event). Tickets can be purchased at the door on the day of the event, if available.

Doors to the event open at 6:30 p.m.

Best in show will be presented with a cash prize of $250.00.

By agreeing to the terms and conditions on the entry form for the Bensenville Short Film Festival, the person or entity (the Applicant) submitting an entry (the Short) to the Bensenville Short Film Festival (BSFF) acknowledges that s/he has read, understood and agrees to the following rules and guidelines:

1. The Applicant is legally authorized to enter the Short in BSFF, and the Short is not subject to any claims or litigation and is not threatened by any claims or litigation.

2. Entries must be 15 minutes or under in length.

4. Non-English language shorts must be subtitled in English.

5. BSFF can only accept, consider and notify entries submitted with valid entry form and non-refundable entry fee ($25). To be considered for BSFF, the Applicant must fill out the entry form on FilmFreeway. Applicant must submit a Secure Online Screener. Entry Fee payment must be made online through FilmFreeway.

7. To verify BSFF has received your entry, we advise that you check the FilmFreeway status before emailing us with further questions.

8. All films will be notified of their status by February 19, 2024. If your contact information or premiere status changes between entry submission and our notification date, please update your information on FilmFreeway and email any changes to: bensenvillearts@gmail.com

9. Entry materials cannot be returned.

10. It is the sole responsibility of the Applicant to secure clearance from the copyright holders of any copyrighted materials in the Short. The Applicant releases and discharges BSFF, its employees and agents from any and all claims, demands or causes of actions related to misappropriation or infringement of copyright or violation of any other right arising out of or relating to this Short.

11. In the event that the Short is accepted as a Finalist by BSFF, the Applicant hereby agrees to the following rights and requests and grants to BSFF without reservations, conditions or qualifications:

11a. BSFF reserves the right to screen an exhibition-quality digital file of the Short during BSFF, including educational screenings and a post festival Awards screening event.

11b. BSFF reserves the right to coordinate ALL publicity and press outreach concerning the Short’s presentation at BSFF, including but not limited to:

11.b-1 The right to use excerpted clips, still images and/or titles, and information from or relating to the Short for promotional purposes in all media including BSFF’s website.

11.b-2 The right to issue and authorize publicity concerning the filmmakers and the Short and to use all associated names, likenesses and biographical information.

11.b-3 The right to provide contact information for the director and producer(s) of the Short and to grant BSFF the right to provide this information to film industry organizations sponsoring Festival events at its discretion.

11c. BSFF reserves the right to retain a preview copy of any Short submitted or solicited for BSFF’s non-circulating library, as well as for BSFF’s educational purposes.

11e. BSFF reserves the right to disqualify, without refund of any or all submission fees, any entry which is in violation of the guidelines and participation agreement.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Bensenville is a small but mighty film festival! We were very proud to have our film ENDLESS as part of this year's program and look forward to submitting again in the future!

    July 2023
  • This was one of THE best festivals we’ve been to this year. The communication was superb and the hospitality at the actual event blew our socks off. We will most definitely be submitting here again and will recommend that you do the same. Thanks again for accepting Herman in your festival.

    April 2023
  • Joe Chang

    Fantastic Festival with excellent programming! My film Bride's Dream was screened this year! Thank you very much!

    March 2023
  • Urban Pebble Productions

    This is a gem of an in-person film festival in Chicagoland! Fun venue with popcorn and ice cream, a big screen experience and easy parking. Programming was full of variety and lots of the filmmakers attended. Definitely a worthwhile 2 hour event.

    March 2023
  • Joan Bentosela

    Very proud to have my film selected there. Very intesting programming. Many Thanks!

    December 2019