The first edition of the Clapham International Film Festival will be taking place on April 20-23 2023.

It's difficult being a filmmaker. There are ups and downs, struggles and victories and an inherent sense of confusion as to the nature of reality. At least in my experience.

CIFF aims to bring together the great minds of our generation to consider reality, watch some amazing pieces of work from all over the world and scheme up new ideas and new dreams to pursue.

The event is run by filmmakers, for filmmakers. Films that submit to our festival will help create a new community of independent filmmakers, and we will mutually help each other achieve our dreams and aspirations.

It is also run by a life-long resident of Clapham, who wants to program an incredible event for the local community, showcasing films that wouldn't get a look in otherwise.

We are a team of two putting this event on, but we are working hard to repay the faith placed in us by those that choose to submit to our festival.

The theme of the festival is Hope, and I hope that you join us on our journey.

Awards & Prizes

There will only be one award at our festival, the award for Hope of the Festival.
All submissions will be eligible for this award, and the criteria is the film that best answers and aligns with the theme of the festival: Hope.

The prize is tbc, but it'll be good.

Rules & Terms

By submitting your film to the Clapham International Film Festival, you are entering into an agreement with all of the festival’s terms and conditions. Mainly, you’re agreeing that if we select your work, you grant us permission to exhibit your work in public.

We welcome submissions from any genre, and indeed welcome submissions from novel genres or meta-genres.

Entries are open to every filmmaker on Earth, and we have a separate category for those who can demonstrate their connection to Clapham (that’s Clapham in south west London, UK).

You are welcome to submit films from any point in your life, but we would appreciate hearing how old work is relevant to our present festival theme and will need to hear your justification for sending in historical work. We don’t require any kind of premiere status, but if this is your first film festival we’ll try to make it as special as possible.

Submissions should be in English, or have English subtitles attached. If your film isn’t in English and doesn’t have any subtitles, our ability to evaluate it becomes compromised and we won’t be able to consider it.

We’re only accepting submissions through FilmFreeway.

We will be carefully evaluating each and every submission, and will be selecting films that best align with our festival’s vision and theme. We can’t give individual feedback on submissions, but please know that we appreciate you sending in your work and we value your time and interest.

Entry fees are non-refundable. This is the first edition of the Clapham International Film Festival, and there is a degree of risk attached to backing our venture. Please be sure that we will repay your faith in us by programming the most miraculous film festival we possibly can.