Named as "Up and Coming Film Fest" by New Hampshire Magazine's "Best of New Hampshire" issue, the Monadnock International Film Festival (MONIFF) showcases high-quality, independent cinema every April in the beautiful Monadnock Region, known for its vibrant arts, culture, and Mt. Monadnock, one of the world's most climbed mountains. 2024 will mark the 12th annual festival. We plan to hold a 3-day in-person event in downtown Keene and ten days of online virtual screenings.

MONIFF features award-winning films on the festival circuit, domestic and foreign, along with premieres of regionally produced films by New Hampshire and New England filmmakers. Our mission is to celebrate independent films by offering audiences compelling stories from home and around the world, exposing them to diverse cultures, lifestyles, and points of view. We screen narrative and documentary feature-length films and animated, narrative, and documentary shorts. Films are shown in the Colonial Theatre's new SHOWROOM in downtown Keene and additional community theatres in Jaffrey. In 2020, we moved to the virtual platform Eventive in response to the pandemic. We bring guest filmmakers to our festival to engage with audiences in lively Q&A discussions after screenings and participate in film industry panels.

The highlight of our festival is the Jonathan Daniels awards ceremony, honoring Keene's Civil Rights hero and given to a filmmaker whose film combines artistic excellence with awareness around a timely social issue. Our first-year recipient was a renowned filmmaker and local resident, Ken Burns, for his documentary, "Central Park Five." Other recipients include Brian Oakes, director of "Jim: The James Foley Story"; Beth Murphy, director of "What Tomorrow Brings"; and Talya Tibbon, director of "Sky and Ground." We also give Audience Choice awards to Best Documentary Short, Best Narrative Short, and Best Documentary Feature.

Awards & Prizes

Attendees vote by ballots for three Audience Choice Awards:
(1) Best Documentary Short
(2) Best Narrative Short
(3) Best Documentary Feature, sponsored by Florentine Films
Each winner receives a trophy. The short film winners receive a $500 cash award, the Florentine Films Documentary Feature receives a $1,000 cash award, and the Jonathan Daniels Award filmmaker receives a $1,000 cash award.

Rules & Terms

SUBMISSIONS:
Entries must be submitted online through FilmFreeway's online screener option.

Films must have been completed no earlier than January 2021.

We accept submissions that have premiered elsewhere and may already have distribution agreements. However, TV, theatrical, online video, other festivals, or other distribution outlets that run concurrently or in the same month as the Festival may not be eligible for screening. Rough cuts and incomplete projects are not accepted. Multiple entries are allowed. However, a separate entry form must be submitted for each.

Students must include proof of student status (copy of student ID) at the time of production.

Programming decisions will be made by the notification deadline, and selected entrants will be notified.

If your film is selected, we reserve the right to determine the time and date for the screening of your film and if it will be screened in person and online. Selection for screening will be determined no later than one month before the Festival.

PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS: If your film is accepted, you'll be asked to provide digital press materials that include a short synopsis, filmmaker credits, digital stills from the film, a trailer, and a digital or printed poster that's 27x40.

FORMATS: Acceptable formats include .mp4, .mov, DCP, and Blu-Ray disc. The Festival requests DVD and/or Blu-Ray disc backup copies to accompany all exhibition formats.

All submissions arriving via mail post must be in DVD region 1 or 0 format NTSC.

FOREIGN FILMS:
Foreign language films must be made available with English subtitles.

For international submissions outside the U.S., filmmakers must write on the package: "NO commercial value - for cultural purposes only."

MONIFF is not responsible for customs fees and other charges.

SHIPPING:
Submitters of accepted films agree to pay for shipping the exhibition copy of their film to MONIFF to arrive at the Festival by the date requested by the technical team, usually three weeks before the Festival. MONIFF only covers the return shipping of accepted film exhibition copies and backup materials. MONIFF does not return marketing materials such as posters or postcards after the conclusion of the Festival.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:
All entry fees paid are non-refundable.

By submitting your film for consideration to the 2024 Monadnock International Film Festival, you acknowledge that you have full authority to do so, that the film is cleared for potential festival exhibition, and that you accept full legal responsibility for the intellectual property therein.

Submitting your film to us constitutes permission to exhibit your work at the 2024 Monadnock International Film Festival. If your film is accepted to be part of the program, you will do your best to work with us to have the filmmakers and/or actors attend the Festival to present the film to our audience.

The Monadnock International Film Festival is also hereby granted the right to utilize an excerpt from any film submitted and accepted for exhibition at the Festival for promotional purposes.

You shall also indemnify and hold harmless the Monadnock International Film Festival from and against any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney's fees and costs of the court) which may be incurred by reasons of any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss of or damage to the screening media entered.

18 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Brantley Palmer

    I couldn't be happier with the experience of showing my documentary, Everything to Entertain You: The Story of Video Headquarters, at MONIFF in 2023. It's an amzingly well run festival in beautiful venues with inceedibly affordable individual tickets and all access passes. The communication from the festival was top notch and I can't thank Dee and everyone at MONIFF enough for making it such a fantastic experience.

    October 2023
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  • Anna & Alex Liakos

    Great festival was honored to have our film LEGEND HAS IT screen at it.

    October 2023
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  • skehan808@gmail.com Skehan

    Our documentary film "Growing Through Covid-19" screened there in 2023. It was a beautiful venue and a very enthusiastic audience. It's nice that MONIFF sells such an affordable all access pass, as it meant so many people we didn't know attended our showing. It was fun to have local people who didn't know us, attend and ask so many questions and share their thoughts with us after. I wish their were some networking events, but if there were, we weren't aware of them.

    October 2023
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  • Rachel Thomas-Medwid

    We had a wonderful screening of our film Cult at MONIFF! Communication was top notch and personal and the films all high quality. Thank you for including us and we definitely plan to submit again next year!

    October 2023
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you, Rachel! We loved working with you (and all the submitting filmmakers) and appreciate the feedback. Hope to see you next year!

  • Rebekah Louisa Smith

    A fantastic festival - such a lovely team who really cared about our film and gave it a brilliant screening. Thank you Dee and team

    October 2023
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you, Rebekah! It was a pleasure to screen Into the Spotlight and have members of the team present to conduct a Q&A.