The Northwest’s premiere showcase of new work by regional filmmakers, the Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival—for 38 years called the Northwest Film & Video Festival—brings artists and audiences together for a singular community celebration. Each year the Festival draws more than 400 entries from filmmakers in Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, presenting to the public carefully selected programs of outstanding work and awarding critical recognition to top juror- and audience-recognized films. After the Festival, the event lives on in the form of the “Best of the Northwest” touring program, presented at key cultural and educational organizations across the Northwest. Past tour programs have been presented all the way to the edges of the Northwest, in Great Falls, MT, Klamath Falls, OR, Seattle, WA, Hanes, AK, and Boise, ID, among many other locations.

Awards & Prizes

At each iteration of the Northwest Filmmakers' Festival, we present audience awards and judges' awards. Audience awards are awarded at the end of the festival, based on audience balloting. Judges' awards—picked before the festival begins and appearing in our printed schedule—change yearly, based on the the individual judges' categories and criteria. Past judges include Jonathan Marlow, Michael Almereyda, Freude Bartlett, Ellen Bartow, James Benning, Phil Borsos, Ernest Callenbach, John Cooper, Karen Cooper, Jo Ann Danzker, Steve Dejarnett, Gill Dennis, Sam Green, Matt Groening, Andrea Grover, Todd Haynes, Jim Hoberman, Dan Ireland, Edith Kramer, Heike Kuehn, Stan Lawder, Ted Mahar, Leonard Maltin, Jonathan Marlow, David Milholland, Marv Newland, Pat O’Neill, Mike Plante, Bill Plympton, Kelly Reichardt, B. Ruby Rich, Christopher Rauschenberg, Lilianna Rodriguez, Rachael Rosen, Gus Van Sant, Norie Sato, Steve Seid, Maureen Selwood, Jill Sprecher, Deborah Stratman, Amy Taubin, Kenneth Turan, Christine Vachon, Jane Veeder, Carmen Vigil, Melinda Ward, and Gene Youngblood.

Rules & Terms

Eligibility: Permanent residents of Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington may submit two works of any length or genre released since January 1, 2017. Student entries (college and university only) must be from a school located in the Northwest.

Entries truly originating from outside one of these states/provinces will be deleted.

Please, if possible, submit your film with an embedded copy—upload, Vimeo, etc.—within the FilmFreeway interface (steps will become clear as you go through the process). If you absolutely must send a DVD, please address it to:

46th Northwest Filmmakers' Festival Submissions
1219 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR 97205 USA
2 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Joanna Priestley

    This is a wonderful festival! If your work is bing shown please try to attend. They have a day long networking/educational event and a fun opening night party at the Portland Art Museum. It is an amazing opportunity to see films of all genres from all over the northwest, including Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. Festival Director Ben Popp does a great job and I highly recommend the Northwest Filmmaker's Festival!

    July 2019
    Helpful
  • Priced Out Documentary Film

    We had a great time at the festival. The Whitsell Auditorium is the most beautiful mid-sized theater in Portland, hands down. The festival was well organized, the communicated clearly and were great at making us feel welcomed and appreciated as filmmakers. We sold out so early the first night they booked a second screening for us after the festival that allowed us to share gate receipts. That was awesome and super quick thinking on their part. A great place for regional film and a fun time.

    November 2017
    Helpful