The Central Florida CineFest is an annual international film festival in Orlando Florida offering a platform for several emerging filmmakers to tell their original stories in the hopes of inspiring the audience.

This spring in Florida, Central Florida CineFest will transform the Rosen Centre to the ultimate film festival dedicated to building up a community of excellent resources for people that want their creative voices heard. Central Florida CineFest is an outlet that helps a new generation of filmmakers find their voice and share their work with the rest of the world.
We accept submissions from all over the world via Filmfreeway only.
Enter today. You’re just a step away from being discovered!

Awards & Prizes

For 2020

Total cash prizes $2200

Judges Awards:

1. BEST FEATURE
2. BEST SCREENPLAY SHORT NARRATIVE FILM
3. BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY
4. BEST NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
5. BEST SHORT ANIMATION
6. BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY (All Categories)
7. BEST DIRECTOR (All Categories)
8. BEST SOUND DESIGN (All Categories)
9. BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC (All Categories)
10. BEST STUDENT FILM FROM CENTRAL FLORIDA (Short Narrative Film)

Audience Awards:

11. BEST OF THE BEST
12. BEST ACTOR (All Categories)
13. BEST ACTRESS (All Categories)
14. BEST OF ORLANDO (Short Narrative film)

Rules & Terms

1) We accept films made in 2017 and up.
Films are split into three divisions - Short films: maximum 30 minutes, Short Documentaries: maximum 30 minutes & Feature films: 60 minutes and more.
Festival accepts secure online screener like vimeo.
2) Entry of a film in multiple categories is allowed but in such cases, it is necessary to pay the entry fee for each category.
3) English subtitle is compulsory for all Non-English films.
4) All movies are downloaded for live screen viewing; we do not share your movies.
5) The movie rated as “Best of each category” will receive trophy. The winners must contact us within 15 days after the notification to get the prize.
6) The winners get the trophy at no cost only if they attend the award event. However, all the winners will be able to receive our official certificate (PDF format) and trophie for a small fee. All the semi-finalist will be notify via email and will be able to get certificates and trophy for a small fee.
7) Entry fees are non-refundable.
8) The decision of jury members will be final and accepted by all. No inquiries or arguments will be entertained. The organizers reserve the right not to award any or all of the prizes.
9) The applicant agrees to have read and accepted the rules & regulations for participation in the Central Florida CineFest.
The applicant confirms that he/she has the requisite authority or has obtained the requisite authority from the producer/right holder to enter this film in the Central Florida Cinefest. Furthermore, an applicant formally declares possession to all rights regarding screening of the film.
Under NO circumstance, the authorities of Central Florida CineFest will not entertain or be answerable to anyone else apart from the applicant.
10) All submissions in personal categories (like “best actor” or “best director”) need the name of the person you are registering to the category. You can send us your submissions with the cover letter. The name must match with the real person who covers the role.
11) While submitting the movie the applicant accepts the sharing of trailer, pictures, and posters of the movie on our social page, website, and other media platforms. If the applicant objects to this, notification by email is necessary.
12) We do not answer questions about the selection, as our judges have the final say over movie selections.
13) We can withdraw the selection or award of any candidate at any time if the above rules are not respected.
14) We do not grant waivers.
15) No premiere requirement.
10 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Yanta Antoine

    It was absolutely amazing. The award ceremony was my favorite thing, besides getting nervous about attendance to the screening of my film!

    October 2019
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  • Noah McNair

    The location was small, and the screen was not high enough that a viewer could take any place in the audience to see the entire screen, so I ended up craning my neck for much of the show.
    I did not mind that the main presenter was a drag queen, but when both presenters came on every time and their only sense of humor was to give 'drag names' to random people in the audience, I tired of them very quickly. There was no diversity in their appearances, jokes, introductions, remarks, or exits.
    The catering had primarily adult beverages, and the only food item served was macaroni nuggets on a giant leaf of lettuce. I chose the lettuce, and starved half the evening.
    The reception area was so hard to locate, I never actually found it. Instead, I somehow managed to slide in from the backstage exit and nobody questioned my presence, although I had paid online for the ticket of the block of films I attended.
    The audience-choice voting sheet nominated many films that I were not in the block I attended. It would have worked for the nominees to have a clip shown from their film that best represents what they were nominated for, but this did not happen at all. Instead, we were somehow expected to sit through a feature-length film— which had a $75 attendance fee for its block, and most of the audience did not stay around for it as it was very late in the evening by that time— in order to obtain the results and learn who won (or, in my case, whether my film even stood a chance of winning).
    The video and audio were not synchronized, which compromised the viewing experience greatly, like when an explosion sounds before it is seen.
    There was only 15 minutes to 'mingle' with other attendees, some of whom were filmmakers while most were not, so I consequently only made 1 connection.

    October 2019
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  • Alexandra Balda

    I was thrilled to have had my short OBSCURED REFLECTION, officially selected by the festival. To have come so far from what I am sure was a formidable number of entrants in this amazing competition means a lot to me. The entire festival was a wonderfully-organized event that I'll never forget.

    October 2019
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  • Mike Greene

    Had a great time at Central Florida CineFest. The hosts were amazing! Everyone was extremely nice and welcoming. Hope to be a part of it again next year!

    October 2019
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  • Justine Renee

    CFCF was in it’s first year and very professional, welcoming and fun. It is set up very nicely and a bit different from a typical film fest which makes the experience unique. It takes place at a dinner theater so you sit at tables and can order food and drinks (full bar), which I absolutely love when watching movies for hours and it gives you space for the voting papers and overall comfort to move around. In addition, they have fun comedic hosts which gives you an entertaining show along with watching the films!

    The production was very professional with a red carpet, professional photographers, waitstaff and a wonderful awards ceremony.
    I will definitely attend again, it is one of the most fun film festival experiences I have ever had!

    Thank you CFCF for the opportunity!

    September 2019
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