Chicago Underground Film Festival

CHICAGO UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL
The Longest-Running Underground Film Festival in the World (Est. 1993)

Since 1993, the Chicago Underground Film Festival has championed cinema that exists outside the mainstream. For more than three decades, CUFF has been a home for filmmakers working on the fringes of commercial, institutional, and cultural expectations.

As Roger Ebert famously wrote:

"What you get for your money is not just admission to the films but admission to a subculture."

We champion work that breaks rules, takes risks, and confronts audiences—formally, politically, aesthetically, or personally. If your film refuses the safe option, we want to see it.

What Do We Mean by "Underground"?
Underground isn't a genre. It isn't a budget level. It isn't a particular style.
Underground cinema is work made on its own terms—outside dominant commercial pressures, industry formulas, and cultural expectations. We are interested in films driven by artistic necessity rather than market logic.

Experimental, narrative, documentary, animation, hybrid, essay film, personal cinema, genre deconstruction, expanded media—we care less about category than ambition.

If your film takes formal risks, challenges convention, embraces the unconventional, or simply couldn't have emerged from a focus group, studio mandate, or streaming algorithm, there's a good chance we're interested.

What We're Looking For:

Beyond formulas. Beyond trends. Beyond content.

From nearly 3,000 annual submissions, CUFF selects approximately 100 films that surprise us, challenge us, haunt us, provoke us, or expand our understanding of what cinema can be.

We program experimental work alongside documentaries, narrative films alongside hybrids, emerging artists alongside established voices.

A CUFF film isn't necessarily a perfect film. We're often more interested in originality, ambition, and risk than polish, professionalism, or commercial potential.

The question isn't simply "Is this a good film?"

The question is: "Is this a CUFF film?"

Who Attends CUFF

CUFF audiences are active participants, not passive consumers.

Our screenings attract experimental filmmakers, independent creators, artists, musicians, students, cinephiles, critics, and cultural instigators from Chicago and around the world.
The atmosphere is curious, energetic, intelligent, and deeply engaged.

Screenings + Spaces

Most screenings take place at Chicago's premier cinemas:

• The Harper Theater
• The Gene Siskel Film Center
Both venues provide professional projection, calibrated sound, and a theatrical experience worthy of the work being shown.

When the work calls for it, however, we venture beyond traditional screening spaces. Recent events have included documentary screenings paired with dance parties, live performances, expanded cinema presentations, and site-specific programs.

Whether it's a velvet-curtained movie palace or an improvised cultural space, we strive to find the right environment for every film.

The CUFF Experience
CUFF extends far beyond the screening room.

The festival includes artist talks, live music, performances, exhibitions, panels, parties, and conversations that continue long after the credits roll.

Past performers have included RP Boo, Lady D, Art Gray Noizz Quintet, Pedestrian Deposit, Brett Naucke, Fire-Toolz, and The Handsome Family.

Many filmmakers tell us their most valuable festival experiences happen not during screenings, but during the unexpected conversations afterward.

CUFF exists to create those moments.

Selected Filmmaker Benefits

Selected filmmakers receive:

• Screening fee
• Two all-access festival passes
• Access to filmmaker hospitality space
• Invitations to festival events, panels, and gatherings
• Professional technical presentation
• Festival laurels
• Networking opportunities with fellow artists and industry professionals
• Press and promotional support when available
• Limited need-based travel assistance when resources permit

Whenever possible, attending filmmakers participate in audience Q&As and post-screening discussions.

Key Dates (2026)

Selections Announced:
July 29, 2026

Festival Information Packet:
Approximately one week after selections are announced

Chicago Underground Film Festival:
September 23–27, 2026

Submission deadlines and fees appear in the Dates & Fees section.

All deadlines are 11:59 PM Central Time.

Promoting Your Screening

We don't just screen films—we help build audiences.

Selected filmmakers may receive promotional assets, social media support, local press outreach, venue information, audience recommendations, and opportunities for cross-promotion with fellow filmmakers.

Our goal is to connect your work with the people most likely to appreciate it.

Accessibility

Our primary venues are fully accessible and include:

• Wheelchair access
• Elevators
• Accessible restrooms
• Assisted listening devices

ASL interpretation may be available with advance notice, subject to scheduling.

Accessibility information for alternative venues and special events will be provided whenever applicable.

Questions or accommodations requests may be directed to access@cuff.org.

Submission Details

• Vimeo and YouTube screeners preferred (private links accepted)
• Non-English language films must include English subtitles
• DCP required for exhibition
• 16mm and select 35mm presentations possible by prior arrangement
• 24fps preferred; 25fps accepted with advance notice

Selection Process

Every submitted film is watched.

Submissions are reviewed by multiple programmers before final decisions are made.

We look for work that lingers, challenges, surprises, and refuses to be ignored.

Selected filmmakers will be notified by July 29, 2026.

While we cannot provide individual feedback, we sincerely appreciate every submission and recognize the effort involved in bringing independent work into the world.

Keep Us Posted

After submitting, you'll receive a confirmation email.

If your premiere status changes, your film becomes available online, your screener link changes, or other significant updates occur, please let us know.

Final Word

For more than thirty years, CUFF has remained committed to artists working outside the boundaries of conventional film culture.

Still weird.

Still independent.

Still underground.

We're here for films that don't quite fit anywhere else.

Join us.