The Fargo Film Festival is the premier annual moving picture event in the state of North Dakota. Featuring more than 100 movies every March, the five day festival takes place at the historic Fargo Theatre, a beautiful, art deco/art moderne movie palace equipped with a Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ.

The Fargo Film Festival showcases work from all over the world and routinely programs movies that go on to receive distribution. In recent years, the festival has hosted several Oscar-nominated filmmakers and many Oscar-nominated films.

The festival's Ted M. Larson Award honors individuals who have demonstrated outstanding, longtime contributions to film education, film production, film culture, and/or film criticism and history. Recipients of the Ted M. Larson Award include George A. Romero, John Waters, Molly Ringwald, Hal Hartley, Cary Elwes, Don Hertzfeldt, Janet Leigh, Richard Edlund, Leonard Maltin, Mike Flanagan and Kate Siegel.

Awards & Prizes

The Fargo Film Festival names winners in each of its eight categories and also honors films and filmmakers with several special awards.

Rules & Terms

Movies must be submitted electronically through the FilmFreeway. No physical media, including DVD and Blu-ray, are accepted as submission copies.

If selected, submitters are required to provide a file of their movie in DCP format, the industry standard for theatrical exhibition. With the exception of 2-Minute Movie Contest selections, DCP is the only accepted exhibition format of the Fargo Film Festival.

Moviemakers must provide a high-resolution image from their movie.

Movies must have been completed after January 1, 2024.

Moviemakers are responsible for obtaining all necessary rights and releases for public screening of their work.

Additionally, entrants must disclose any use of AI in the creative and/or production process. The Fargo Film Festival expects that human creativity and authorship shall remain at the core of moviemaking from conception to post-production. Failure to disclose the use of generative or other AI will result in disqualification and program/award withdrawal.
84 Reviews
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  • Cassidy Rast

    Everyone at the Fargo festival was really easy to work with especially Kyle. He made us feel at home and we are honored to have screened our film there.

    April 2026
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  • Bruce Pavalon

    Fargo Film Festival is a great place to premiere your film.

    April 2026
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  • Brenden Hubbard

    Really fun festival. Well attended and a beautiful theater to present a film in!

    March 2026
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  • Shane Chung

    Wonderful. welcoming people, a jewel of a downtown and so hospitable. A must-submit AND a must-attend. I'll be back a future year, with or without a project!

    March 2026
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  • Gwen Briesemeister

    If you are looking for a welcoming and enthusiastic audience for your film, I suggest you submit your film to this festival. It was well run and organized. Everyone we came in contact with was enthusiastic and so hospitable. We enjoyed the surrounding area as well as the many restaurants near the venue. I thought the film line up was outstanding and I was proud to be one of many great films in this festival.

    March 2026
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