Calling all filmmakers to The Big Muddy Film Festival, originating from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, for its 49th year! The Big Muddy Film Festival is one of the longest running student organized film festivals.

This year's festival focus is retrofuturism. Think of a reimagining of tomorrow through the dreams, struggles, and possibilities of the past. We want to see stories that challenge convention, spark curiosity, and envision new futures, whether through laughter, moments of joy, acts of resistance, or calls for peace.

This festival is rooted in community, accessibility, social justice, the environment, and unwavering love. At the Big Muddy Film Festival we aim to be a welcoming space for filmmakers to share their deepest stories and visions.

Filmmakers will be allowed to submit any films that follow the festival guidelines under one of these 5 categories; Narrative, Documentary, Animation, and Experimental, and a new special category solely dedicated to SIUC students known as Saluki Shorts. Filmmakers can submit their films under several categories at an additional fee.

The festival occurs annually within Carbondale, Illinois, which is situated within the watershed of the Big Muddy River and a region known for the beautiful Shawnee National Forest. The Big Muddy Film Festival will take place on March 18th- 20 2027, hosted by the historic Varsity located in the heart of downtown Carbondale. Films featured represent all genres and are submitted from all corners of the planet.

The program is juried by artists or critics of national and international recognition. Past Jurors have included Barbara Hammer, Carl Ellsworth, Jonni Pepper-GoLions, Naomi Uman, Jim Jarmusch, Kerry Laitala, James Benning, Tomonari Nishikawa, Anna Margarita Albelo, Ben Kalina, and Alrick Brown.

Awards & Prizes

This festival will award the best works in competition in the categories of experimental, documentary, narrative, and animation.

The festival will also present several awards, including the Founding Mothers' Award honoring bold storytellers who get it out of the mud, Mike Covell Award for Southern Illinois University, Carbondale alumni, the John Michael Social Justice Award, and the Cade Bursell River Award.

Award recipients will receive a handcrafted, hand-forged award created by the Southern Illinois Metalsmith Society. Distribution details will be shared with winners after the festival.

Rules & Terms

RULES AND GUIDELINES

Films for the Documentary, Experimental, Narrative, and Animation categories MUST be no more than 30 minutes in length, including credits.

Saluki Shorts are only for Southern Illinois University, Carbondale students.

The Big Muddy Film Festival welcomes films of all completion dates.

All Films should not contain material that is defamatory, offensive, or incites hatred against an individual or group.

All Films must provide a content warning for any gore, flashing, depictions for mental illness, or any other serious topics.

The submitting party must own the rights to the film, including music, footage, and any other copyrighted material.

Films may be submitted into other categories as long as they meet the requirements for those categories. Films will only be considered for the awards for the category they were submitted for.

Any non-English films must be submitted with English subtitles in the video itself.

It is requested for all films to submit with subtitles, but not required.

LEGAL

Filmmakers must secure all the necessary permissions and releases from actors, crew members, and locations used in the film.

The film must not infringe upon any existing copyrights or trademarks. Any copyrighted material included in the film must be used with proper authorization.

Big Muddy Film Festival is not responsible for any claims, damages, or disputes arising from the screening or submission of the film.

Big Muddy reserves the right to disqualify any film that is in violation of the above rules.

By submitting, the submitter agrees that should their submitted film be accepted into the festival, Big Muddy Film Festival has permission to use excerpts of their film as promotional material for the festival, as well as screening the film during the days of the festival.

Personal data provided during the submission will be used solely for festival related purposes and will not be shared with third parties without consent from the submitter.

Accepted films will be archived by Big Muddy Film Festival for internal reference and may be subjected to screening outside of the event without explicit permission. Films may be used for promotional material. If filmmaker does not want their film screened after event or used for promotional material, the filmmaker must contact the Big Muddy Film Festival. Films will not be distributed.

Hand Forged metal awards may be subjected to a shipping fee paid by filmmaker if they they wish to receive award by mail.
36 Reviews
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  • Andrew Berger

    I unfortunately wasn’t able to make it but the staff was great to deal with!

    March 2026
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  • Phil Hastings

    Always a great festival to be a part of. Honored to be selected.

    April 2025
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  • Art Moviez

    It was a great experience screening at Big Muddy Film Festival.

    April 2025
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  • doug Lehmann

    It was a great experience screening at Big Muddy FF. Great people who care about film!

    March 2022
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  • Louis Reifenauer

    A Great Varsity Cinema, a superb Big muddy Festival, I was more than happy to have my shortfilm screened there in Carbondale.
    To receive the experimental jury prize was like a cherry on top of the cake !!!! All the Best to the Big muddy Crew !!!!!

    March 2022
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