Named a Top 50 Film Festival worth the entry fee over several years by MovieMaker magazine, the 21st Oxford Film Festival is currently planned to be held in March 21-24 2024

Our Mission:
The Oxford Film Festival celebrates the art of independent cinema. Through year-round programming, the festival works to encourage filmmaking in Oxford and North Mississippi as part of the global film community, while cultivating audience appreciation of cinema through screenings, workshops and educational programs that culminate in the annual festival.

Our Core Values:

Independent film and filmmaking
- We value the significance of independent film and the art of filmmaking.

Artistic integrity
- We honor artistic integrity while striving for excellence.

Artistic development
- We embrace the process of developing artists.

Sense of community and community experience
- We create opportunities for community connections and impactful conversations.

Equity, inclusion, and representation
- Oxford Film Festival and OxFilm year-round programming will focus on equity, inclusion, and representation on and off camera.

The festival exhibits quality films from across the globe and has been praised for its hospitality. The festival was founded in 2003 by the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council. In 2008, the Oxford Film Festival became an independent non-profit organization with 501c3 status committed to celebrating the art of independent cinema.

The festival screens short and feature-length films in both showcase and competition settings, hosts panel discussions on issues in contemporary filmmaking, and invites the filmmakers to interact with the audience at a number of social events.

The Oxford Film Festival entertains and educates its participants, providing residents and visitors with the opportunity to watch independent films, as well as to meet the filmmakers and learn from industry professionals. The variety of films, in addition to the panels, attracts filmgoers of all ages and backgrounds. The festival also supports moviemaking in the area through the production of the community film and support of OxFilm which loans equipment to filmmakers filming in Oxford.

Home to the University of Mississippi, past haunts of William Faulkner, Larry Brown, Barry Hannah and John Grisham, current home of Ace Atkins, Jack Pendarvis, and listed as one of John Vilani's "100 best small arts towns in America," Oxford offers a unique blend of literary and artistic appreciation within the setting of a vibrant college town.

Recent years have included visits from Hugo Sobelman with SOUL KIDS, Dale Dickey with A LOVE SONG, Angie Thomas with THE HATE U GIVE, Danny Glover to introduce I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO, Robert Longstreet with THE MISSING GIRL, and Tim Blake Nelson with THE SOUND AND THE FURY. Academy Award winners and nominees, Independent Spirit Award nominees, and favorites on the film festival circuit in addition to local and regional films.

Our festival, the Oxford Film Festival, is in Mississippi (USA) and should not be confused with the Oxford International Film Festival in Ohio, now known as the Cincinnati Film Festival, nor OxDox in Oxford, England nor the Oxford International Film Festival in Oxford. England.

"Regional festivals are becoming more and more important in the film landscape, uplifting new, diverse voices in a time where people are viewing films in a group setting less and less. At Oxford, the success lay in the crop of powerful stories from fresh voices, many of which aligned with, and then furthered, our cultural conversation."
- Meredith Alloway, Filmmaker Magazine

"The word that one hears over and over again at the Oxford Film Festival is “community…” This is a festival that seeks to reflect the community from which it arises, both the local one and the international one connected by filmmaking. It is a homegrown, intimate festival that nonetheless features voices from around the world, harmoniously united through the community of film."
- Brian Tallerico, rogerebert.com

Best Documentary Feature
Best Narrative Feature
Best Documentary Short
Best Narrative Short
Best Music Video
Best Comedy
Best Horror/Syfi
Best Animation
Best Mississippi Feature
Best Mississippi Short
Best Mississippi Student Film
Best Music Video- MS
Best Mississippi Music Video
LGBTQIA Filmmaker
Foreign Language Film -

1. Films that have been previously submitted to the OXFF are not eligible.
2. Films must have been completed on or after June 1, 2021.
3. Films in theatrical/virtual cinema release in Mississippi prior to, or at the time of the festival are not eligible.
4. Entrant confirms and warrants required legal authority to submit the entry into the Festival and to use all music, images, and content in the entry.
5. Entrant will allow usage of clips from the film for promotional use on television, radio, in print, and at live Festival events.
6. All entries must be either in English or subtitled in English. Non-English entries submitted without subtitles are not eligible.
7. If accepted into Student programming, student film entries must include proof of student status at the time of production (i.e., copy of student ID, transcript, etc.)

If you have questions before you submit, ask us at info@oxfordfilmfest.com.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Christopher Fitzpatrick

    Such a great incorporation of a fun town and film events that perfectly complement each other. Emphasis on fun! You can't possibly come to the Oxford FF and not have a good time, and with ease of transportation and accommodations. The opportunities for press are everywhere and a great job by the OxFF staff to help promote my music doc OKLAHOMA BREAKDOWN. Films were great and every screening I attended had pro projection and pro sound.

    June 2023
  • Oxford Film Festival is a wonderful film festival of top quality films, hospitality and networking in a beautiful setting of Oxford MS. They provided a shuttle all week and couldn't have been nicer. Thank you to Matt Wymer, Mel Harris, Virginia Brick, and Kristin Rogers for everything!!! I highly recommend this festival to every filmmaker. Was thrilled to make many new friendships and was honored to screen Aaron With 2 A's there!

    March 2023
  • Colette Copeland

    This is one of the best festivals I've attended. The staff was very warm with excellent communication. They provided multiple opportunities for networking with other filmmakers, as well as press. Oxford is a charming small town and has dedicated film patrons.

    March 2023
  • Colin Babcock

    This year was our first screening at the Oxford Film Festival, and we couldn't have been happier there! We drove all the way in from Atlanta and it was so worth it! The town of Oxford is lovely and supportive, and the staff at the festival couldn't be friendlier and more welcoming. The films that were programmed were terrific across the board! We were honored to be a part of this.

    March 2023
  • Jeremey Lavoi

    Oxford is a great film festival. It is filmmaker forward, meaning that as a filmmaker you will not feel like a cog in the machine. My partner and I have screened films at more than 22 film festivals, and Oxford is one of our favorites. We've been fortunate to have three projects screen at Oxford in the last two years, one feature doc (Roots of Fire) and two episodes of music doc series (Dry Bones). Our experience with the festival was great both times. We're still in contact with friends and collaborators that we made at the festival over a year ago.

    March 2023