Chesapeake Film Festival:
Journeys Into the Imagination

It is the mission of the Chesapeake Film Festival to enrich, entertain, educate and inspire by bringing the finest in environmental, narrative, documentary and short and student short films to the Chesapeake Bay community 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 17th year, the Chesapeake Film Festival plans a three-day LIVE event and speakers at our flagship venues September 20 through September 22. Our venues include the beautiful historic Avalon Theatre and Ebenezer Theater in downtown Easton.

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 both emerging and established. Also central to our message is to highlight both environmental films and student achievement in independent cinema. We are seeking films that are light-hearted and upbeat with comedic themes as well as enriching films with well-written storylines and production value. We uniquely feature many local artists with a Films Made in Maryland category.

One of last year's highlights included the very brilliant "Karen Carpenter Starving for Perfection" from AMS Pictures. Also included in the line up of more than 60 films was "Coming Out with the Help of a Time Machine", "Hedgehog", the World Premiere of "Iceman: Book One", "A Passion for Oysters", "Windshipped", "The Life and Legend of Jane Goodall", "The Automat" and many, many more. In our LIVE Festival we honored Judith Dwan Hallet, world renown documentary filmmaker with our Women of Impact Award for 2023.

Films in all genres are selected based on originality, creativity, direction, writing, cinematography, performances, production value, pacing, structure and sound/music.
To see awarded films please visit www.chesapeakefilmfestival.com.

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 2024 with a Student Showcase screening at the Talbot Country FREE Library. To register for further information about our ongoing events for the CFF visit www.chesapeakefilmfestival.com.

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.

The General Rules are as follows:

1) The Chesapeake Film Festival is accepting entries with a completed date after June 1, 2022.
2) All films for consideration must be submitted online through FilmFreeway.com
3) Filmmakers will be notified by approximately June 15, 2024 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 1, 2024. All exhibition materials and media including film links, trailers and promotional stills must be received no later than July 5, 2024. 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.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Harold Jackson III

    A wonderful festival to be a part of.

    March 2024
  • 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
  • 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
  • Ani Vo

    We were honored to be part of this years' edition. Thank you so much for giving our film a platform and thanks to everyone at the festival for a splendid communication. Totally recommend CFF to everyone!

    October 2023
  • The communication from this festival was top notch, and they do a great job with scheduling and timing. The virtual festival is a great asset for them and I was honored to be a part of this outstanding festival.

    October 2023