Long Distance Film Festival is a new form of film festival for these unprecedented cultural moments. We are an entirely online global live-stream marathon of short films built to highlight new and exciting work from people all around the world.

This is a great festival for filmmakers both amateur and experienced alike; especially if your films are overlooked by the conventional festival framework. We want to see everything and anything! All media, new or old, of all genres and form (or not), are welcome and encouraged!

Last year’s festival was a huge success. We played over 52 films from 26 countries, and thousands of people tuned in over the festival weekend to indulge in a curated set that ran the gamut of form and style. We showcased classic genre fiction, documentary, experimental, arthouse, comedy films, animation, sci-fi, video essays, music videos, quarantine films, you name it! Moving forward, LDFF will stay true to its origins by supporting art and media made under quarantine’s limitations. We welcome personal films made with smaller budgets and limited crews.

Films will be screened live online through Spectacle Theater’s new streaming platform and will be completely free to viewers around the world.

These films will be screened to our programming team, composed of artists and critics, before being curated into screening blocks that express unified or developing themes. We hope you share in our idealism for a more broadened appreciation of media and hope you will submit your films and join us in May!

Read more about last year’s edition here: https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2020/festival-reports/closer-than-ever-the-1st-long-distance-film-festival/
Contact us regarding press or partnerships at longdistancefilmfestival@gmail.com

Awards & Prizes

New awards and festival partnerships will be announced in the future! Please stay tuned.

- An "Audience Award" will be given to the three most popular films of the festival through a form on our official website. The winner of these awards will each receive a copy of screenwriting software Final Draft as well as an annual membership to curated streaming service Mubi, an annual membership to NoBudge2, a fee waiver from NoBudge, and a tote bag from Oscilloscope Laboratories.

- Jury awards will be handed out by our All-Star jury—Jessica Dunn Rovinelli, Jourdain Searles, and David Ehrlich—to several films throughout the fest. Winners will receive an annual membership to Mubi, an annual membership to NoBudge2, a fee waiver from NoBudge, a hardcover copy of "Just Like A Shadow" by Jonas Mekas, as well as a tote bag from Oscilloscope Laboratories.

- A group of filmmakers will be selected as "semi-finalists," their work may not screen during the festival but will receive festival laurels as well as opportunities in the filmmaking community.

- All semi-finalists and filmmakers selected to screen during the festival will be connected to an online community of their peers.

- Festival laurels will be provided for all official selections and semi-finalists.

Rules & Terms

- The filmmaker has read and understood the rules and regulations and to the best of their knowledge, all statements are true. The filmmaker is duly authorized to submit this film to Long Distance Film Festival.

- The filmmaker acknowledges that films selected for the Long Distance Film Festival may be included in a package and screened in theaters around the world.

- Submissions must be in English or have English subtitles.

- There are no premiere requirements.

- Private Vimeo screeners are preferred

- Submissions with attached cover letters are preferred, please talk about the experiences that lead you to creating your film and/or why you think it will be a good fit for LDFF.

- All music and other copyrighted material used in films must be properly licensed.

-It is the filmmaker(s) responsibility to have all releases for any and all subject content. The opinion(s) expressed in the film are those of the filmmakers not the festival or it's associates.

- The Festival reserves the right to modify or cut credit sequences to smooth the transition between films in a given screening block.

10 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Julian Doan

    Elias was so great and I was attracted to the festival for its unique programming. They had a thoughtfully put together Discord channel for filmmakers but unfortunately it saw low interaction - I speak for myself in saying it came from online fatigue from the COVID situation. But, the communication from Elias and the festival was top notch and I felt all the care and passion I want from a festival, as a filmmaker. Thank you team for putting together the LDFF, I’m here for whatever future iterations look like 🙏🏽🙏🏽

    June 2021
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  • Ewa Maria Wolska

    It's a fantastic festival, thank you so much for inviting my film!!! I'm really glad to be part of your first edition! I really reccomend it to anyone:)

    June 2021
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  • Kostiantyn Mishchenko

    Wonderful film festival. Great creative team. I enjoyed participating in the program. I recommend everything to filmmakers!

    June 2021
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  • Petri Puroaho

    POTENTIAL TO BECOME GREAT
    For a first-timer this festival worked better than many festivals already. It gave filmmakers a chance to network through Discord-platform, which wasnt unfortunately then used as actively by the filmmakers themselves. But this is not festivals fault. Good general communication that could be even better when taking the role of connecting filmmakers and audience even more, for example through social media. This festival made me feel for the first time at least that I was participating an online filmfestival. Thank you for that. This has lot of potential to become great filmfestival. I never give any festival the highest remarks, so dont worry. I would love to participate again. Thanks from Finland.

    July 2020
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  • Ryan Russo

    Super effective and exciting in communication and hype leading up to the festival, and a really enjoyable and engaging time at each night's program. Had a great time being a part of it!

    July 2020
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