The Helios Film Festival was established to respond to a very simple need, the desire to watch examples of brilliant films made by talented independent filmmakers from all over the world.

With the main sponsorship of the Clermont County Foundation, Helios Film Festival strives to present a different program that focuses on the story, raises questions and opens new discussions. Instead of dividing the films into sections in the usual way, we rather try to bring them together, mix them, and support them with panels and interviews. It also wishes to revive the old summer cinema tradition with its open-air screenings and to re-establish the habit of watching movies together as residents of the neighborhood.

Although the festival being a competitive one, it tries to open a space to talk and think about films. On the other hand, the main sponsor Clermont County Foundation gives the Director of the Year Award to support creativity as well as other award prices.

We believe that people unite with art and no matter how challenging the conditions, such a festival will be a new hope, especially for young people. For this reason, it is among the priorities of the festival to ensure that students participate in the festival by collaborating with universities, and to organize cinema workshops for children and university students.

The audience in Cincinnati, the city's history, architecture and cuisine, the openness of its horizons are the most important factors in choosing Cincinnati for the festival. It is the goal of the festival to make Cincinnati a centre for cinema lovers and filmmakers, with projects such as open-air screenings held before the festival in the summer and a cinema camp designed for the future.

The Queen City will bring independent film out of the darkness and will illuminate the best in film. Our three-day event will be jam-packed with networking, workshops, guest speakers, film premiers, discussion panels, monologue competitions and Director/Actor Q&A sessions.

Come be a part of what is sure to be one of most prestigious film festivals in the country!

Grand Price for Best Feature Film (Narrative, Documentary)
Best Short Film (Narrative, Documentary, Experimental, Animation)
Jury Award for Director of the Year

All awards comes with a Statuette, Certificate and Cash Prize.

There are also prizes awarded for Best Writing, Best Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best of Fest.

An additional $1500 prize will be awarded to the film that wins Best of Fest.

1. Submissions:
March 15, 2024 - October 30, 2024

2. Submission Eligibility:
There is no premiere policy for submission.

3. Restrictions:
Pornography and extreme gore will not be accepted into the Helios Film Festival. Any questions feel free to ask.

4. Submission Fee:
All submissions for Helios Film Festival go directly through FilmFreeway. Please refer to them for online submission processes. The submission fee is non-refundable.

5. Selection of Films:
Submissions are reviewed and selected under the following criteria:
a) Strength of story
b) Quality of production value
c) Independent nature of the production

6. Screening and scheduling
Helios Film Festival aspires to provide the best quality projection possible but will not be held liable for any failure in the technical quality of the projection, nor will fees be refunded in any such case. Helios Film Festival assumes that the submitting party or filmmaker(s) or entrant(s) or print source company has insured for damage and loss of the festival print or tape.

Screenings are scheduled during the Festival at the discretion of Helios Film Festival. While every effort will be made to adhere to the published schedule, Helios Film Festival reserves the right to make changes at any time for any reason. Helios Film Festival will not be liable for any costs claimed as a result of a change in scheduling.

No film may be withdrawn from the festival program after its selection.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

Your film must not infringe on any copyright, right of privacy or any third party rights and must not contain any defamatory, obscene or otherwise offensive content.

You MUST own the copyright to your film as a representative and warrant that you have all necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions to submit and screen your film and you will provide evidence of such on our reasonable request.

Your film is your own original work and you will provide evidence of such upon our request.

Helios reserves the right not to screen your film for any/all reasons including but not linited to, if we deem that your film is in breach of any law or regulation or otherwise may create a liability for the Helios Film Festival.

By entering your film into Helios, you agree to hold the festival, sponsors and affiliates, board members and third party associates harmless for any and all content, technical issues, demands or charges resulting from said content.

We accept no responsibility for disappointment suffered by any person as a result of submitting a film to Helios.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Agustina Lopez

    From the selection to the screening, the festival team was very communicative. Although i couldn't attend the festival myself, I'm glad to have known it was well received when it screened. This makes me and my team really happy for the hardwork we put into making our first short film. Thank you once again to the festival!

    March 2024
  • Alex Cortez

    Glad to have been a part of the festival. Thank you Helios Film Festival.

    March 2024
  • Delfina Vidal

    wonderful festival and worth submitting to. We are also grateful for winning the audience award. God bless the festival team

    March 2024
  • Kevin Guerrero

    We had a representative at the festival and his feedback was good. Thank you to the festival organizers.

    March 2024
  • Marie Schuster

    Thank you for the warm audience. Honoured to have screened at the festival

    March 2024