Chesapeake Film Festival 2025:
Our Bay, Our World, Our Festival

It is the mission of the Chesapeake Film Festival to enrich, entertain, educate and inspire by bringing the finest in environmental, narrative, documentary and student short films to the Chesapeake Bay community and Easton's cultural hub and to the world. The Chesapeake Film Festival will continue to shed light on topics that impact the Maryland Eastern Shore and the vast watershed we call the Chesapeake Bay.

Entering its 18th year, the Chesapeake Film Festival plans a three-day LIVE event and speakers at our flagship venues October 10, 11 and 12, 2025. Our venues include the acclaimed Academy Art Museum, the Ebenezer Theater and the Talbot County Free Library in downtown Easton, Maryland USA.

Our commitment to collaboration, diversity, equity and inclusion and the celebration of arts and artists is our emphasis, as we endeavor to present the best cinematic works and speaker events by artists from around the world of both emerging and established talent. Also central to our message is to highlight both environmental films and student initiatives and achievement in independent cinema. We are seeking films that are inspiring and upbeat with comedic themes, as well as enriching films with well-written storylines and excellent production value. We uniquely feature many local artists with our Spotlight on Maryland category.

Last year's highlights included the exceptional documentary films, “WYETH” and “Jamie Wyeth and the Unflinching Eye” that captured the Jury Prize, both by the gifted director Glenn Holsten. Our Opening Film was “Call Me Dancer” directed by Leslie Shampaine who received our 2024 Women of Impact Award. Another festival highlight in keeping with our commitment to environmental themes was the magnificent “Diary of an Elephant Orphan” from South Africa, directed by Hermien Roelvert-Van Gils, while shorts programs and our popular Student Awards Showcase were also important events.

Whether you are a filmmaker or an avid film enthusiast, we welcome you to engage and experience the Chesapeake Film Festival, as we embark on an exciting new year in 2025 that will include a free Student Showcase screening at the Academy Art Museum.

Awards & Prizes

Festival Awards will include Best Environmental Feature and Short, Best International Film, Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best Emerging Filmmaker, Best Made in Maryland Film, Best Student Film, Best Animation among other categories. Awards also include Best Performance, Best Director and Jury’s Prize. For a list of Award Winners visit www.chesapeakefilmfestival.com

Rules & Terms

The General Rules are as follows:

1) The Chesapeake Film Festival is accepting entries with a completed date after June 1, 2023.
2) All films for consideration must be submitted online through FilmFreeway.com
3) Filmmakers will be notified by approximately June 30, 2025 if their film has been accepted to the Chesapeake Film Festival.
4) Upon acceptance following a signed contract, additional exhibition copies and press materials will be requested. Contracts for selected films will be due by July 15, 2025. All exhibition materials and media including film links, trailers and promotional stills must be received no later than July 15, 2025. The individual or distributor submitting the film hereby warrants that it is authorized to commit the film for screening and understands and accepts these requirements and regulations.
5) Submission fees are non-refundable.

SELECTION CRITERIA & REVIEW

A valuable service that comes with each submission to the Chesapeake Film Festival is critical feedback from an expert and experienced panel of film reviewers. The review panel will provide a summary and feedback to each filmmaker, upon request, whether the film is accepted to the festival or not.

26 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Vincent De Paul

    The Chesapeake Film Festival is a wonderful, well curated celebration of Cinema. Everyone is so kind and the Ebenezer theater is a perfect home for the films and the fest. I LOVE THIS FESTIVAL ON THE EASTERN SHORE.

    October 2024
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  • Rebekah Louisa Smith

    LOVE LOVE this festival - so much care and attention to detail goes into everything that they do - thank you for taking such good care of DIARY OF AN ELEPHANT ORPHAN

    October 2024
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  • Harold Jackson III

    A wonderful festival to be a part of.

    March 2024
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  • Pablo Millan

    I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Chesapeake Film Festival for selecting our short film for screening in Easton. This festival has left me with a remarkably positive impression. Despite being unable to attend the event in person, I am immensely grateful for the exceptional organization and professionalism that were apparent even from a distance. I want to extend a special thank you to its Festival Director, Cid Collins, for the wonderful treatment I received. The level of communication throughout the entire process was outstanding, and I highly recommend this festival to all filmmakers.

    November 2023
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  • Rick Kain

    The Chesapeake Film Festival is a gem of a festival! I just attended the 2023 event and I cannot praise it enough. From submission to screening the communication was excellent. Nothing was left to chance and every detail was sorted out early in the process. Festival Director Cid Collins is the BEST! The event took place in the town of Easton, Maryland which has every amenity that one could want. Great restaurants, coffee shops, and pubs, all walkable around the venues, which made it easy to pop out for a quick bite between blocks of films. Easton is a very warm and welcoming town, I stayed for the weekend and it was like a vacation. Speaking of venues, both theaters had excellent projection and sound equipment which made the presentation of each film top notch. I was pleased with the presentations of the projects I was involved with. The film screenings were very well attended by both filmmakers and cinephiles which made for lively and informative Q&A’s post screening. There was a lovely VIP party which was a great opportunity to network with other filmmakers and festival goers. Terrific opportunity to hear what the viewers thought about the films they had seen. The festival was well curated with quality films which made for an enjoyable festival. I look forward to returning next year.

    October 2023
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