Come celebrate 32 Years of Independents.

The 32nd Arizona International Film Festival, the longest running film festival in Arizona, will run from April 17 to April 28, 2024 at The Screening Room, the Mercado Annex, the historic Hotel Congress and other exhibition venues throughout Downtown Tucson.

The ongoing Festival theme of Bridging Cultures provides a way for independent cinema to share images and voices from diverse cultures with Arizona communities. Since 1990, the Arizona International Film Festival has screened over 3300 films from 100 countries to over 176,000 Arizonans of all ages.

Remaining true to the independent spirit, the Arizona International Film Festival is a venue for independent filmmakers in search of an independent audience.

Awards will be made to the BEST in each category. The BEST OF ARIZONA also will be awarded to an Arizona entry. Special Jury Awards are also made for Outstanding Cinematography in a feature, Best Performance in a feature, and a film that exemplifies "Bridging Cultures."

ELIGIBILITY
Open to independent works of all lengths in narrative, documentary, animation, and experimental categories.

- Films and videos entered in the festival must have been completed between
January 2022 and January 2024.
- Works entered should be an Arizona premiere.
- Arizona entries may have had one public Arizona screening.
- Entries must be in English or have English subtitles
- Entries may originate from any film or video format.
- For pre-screening, on-line screeners (Vimeo) are required.
- For festival screenings, finalists must supply a DCP drive (with Blu-Ray back-up),
flash drives, Blu-Ray and/or DVD in NTSC or PAL formats

CATEGORIES & AWARDS
Entries must be submitted in one of the following categories:
Feature (Narrative, Animated, Experimental) (over 60 minutes)
Short Feature (Narrative, Animated, Experimental) (30 – 60 minutes)
Documentary Feature (over 30 minutes)
Documentary Short (up to 30 minutes)
Dramatic Short (up to 30 minutes)
Comedy Short (up to 30 minutes)
Animated Short (up to 30 minutes)
Experimental Short (up to 30 minutes)
Short Shorts (Dramatic, Comedy, Animated, Experimental) (under 5 minutes)

If the pre-screening committee judges that it is in the best interest of the filmmaker to change the category of an entry, the committee reserves the right to do so. Awards will be made to the BEST in each category. The BEST OF ARIZONA also will be awarded to an Arizona entry.

JUDGING
All submitted entries are reviewed by media panels and evaluated according to content, form and technical aspects. Panel members and the festival director will determine the finalists for screening at the festival. Entrants will be notified by email as to the status of the entry.

Filmmakers, curators, educators and critics will select festival award recipients from the finalists to be screened at the festival. Judges reserve the right not to select a winner in any given category. All decisions by the judges are final.

ENTRY PROCEDURES
Forward your Vimeo on-line screeners to reelfrontier@gmail.com and/or DVD screener Publicity materials to: Arizona International Film Festival, PO Box 431, Tucson, AZ 85702, USA. Press kits and posters submitted with your entry will not be returned.

ENTRY FEES
$60/$50* for works submitted in feature categories
$40/$30* for works submitted in short categories
$25/$20* for works under 5 minutes

* Earlybird submitted by January 10, 2024

An entry fee must be paid for each submission. Fee covers administrative and handling costs and is non-refundable. All entry materials, fees and publicity materials must be received by the final deadline of January 30, 2024.

PUBLICITY MATERIALS
Entrants are advised to submit publicity materials (press kits, posters and publicity photos) with your entry as this facilitates the publicizing of your film if accepted. Press materials can be submitted in an electronic format (photos should be 300dpi).

DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS
If selected, filmmakers will be informed of the procedures for downloading and/or shipping their entries. Finalists are responsible for the arrangements and cost of sending their exhibition copy to the festival by March 25, 2024. Once accepted, the filmmaker will be able to download their entry on the Festival server. If you are shipping your exhibition copy, clearly identify the title of the work on the shipping container.

RETURN SHIPPING OF ENTRY
The festival will cover the cost of return shipping within the United States. The festival will NOT pay for the cost of express shipping to other sites or international shipping. Please include payment to cover express or international shipping costs if required. Work screened at the festival will be shipped within 20 days of the close of the film festival unless other arrangements have been made.

LOSS & DAMAGE
Every care will be taken to safeguard entries while they are in the possession of the festival. However, if loss or damage occurs, the festival cannot accept or assume responsibility.

AGREEMENT
Entry into festival constitutes agreement with all festival rules and guidelines and implies permission to exhibit work during the festival.

For further Information:
E-Mail: reelfrontier@gmail.com
Web Site: www.filmfestivalarizona.com

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • This was a WONDERFUL experience! I was so honored to have been a part of it! We SOLD OUT the theater during our premiere! I made a lot of new acquaintances and enjoyed the entire scheduled program! SO MANY great films and great Q & A sessions... I recommend it to every filmmaker! Kudos to the staff and the venues!

    March 2024
  • Super proud to have our film ENDLESS premiere at the Arizona International Film Festival! It's clear their staff and programmers have a deep passion for the cinema -- they were extremely supportive and communicative throughout the festival.

    July 2023
  • Anthony Assad

    Great crew passionate about film. I couldn’t attend but was updated every step of the way. Hope I get the opportunity to attend in the future and experience the magic first hand.

    June 2023
  • Chezale Rodriguez

    It was an honor to have the music video for "Dear Ancestors" be selected and screened at The Screening Room during Arizona Shorts Night and invited to speak during the Q&A. Not to mention it being sold out! The films were inspiring, the audience was eager and supportive and the staff was hard-working and accommodating. They even put the names of our films on the marquee!! Thank you again AZIFF31!! :)

    June 2023
  • Douglas Raine

    People from all over the world gathered in Tucson. It was a wonderful event. All venues were easily accessible from Tucson's Downtown Streetcar. There were wonderful parties with food, drink, and music. The staff was welcoming and hospitable. Well Done.

    May 2023