The Fifteen Minute Film Festival 2025 will take place on July 19, 2025, at 6:00PM at the beautiful Towngate Theatre in Wheeling, West Virginia. Our mission is to celebrate the art of the short film in all genres. Our low entry fee (always $5.00, $4.00 for FilmFreeway Gold members and students) allows you to spend more on your own film's budget. All winning submissions will be shown on a screen in a real theater filled with short film enthusiasts, fans, friends, and other filmmakers. The Towngate Theatre is located in the heart of Wheeling's Historic Centre Market and is close to local breweries, restaurants, shopping, and nightlife.

Awards & Prizes

Cash Prizes! 1st Place - $100. 2nd - $50. 3rd - $25. From all entries, fifteen films will be selected to be shown at the Festival. Student entries will be judged alongside of all other entries. From those fifteen, three will be selected as the first through third place winners, and there will be an Audience Choice winner selected the day of the Festival. All fifteen selected submissions will receive "Official Selection" laurels upon notification of acceptance, and the first through third place winners will receive additional laurels, as will the Audience Choice winner. Monetary awards will be distributed only through PayPal or Venmo, and winners will have thirty (30) days from the day of the announcement to claim their monetary prizes. Attending filmmakers from each of the fifteen selected films will receive two (2) free passes to the Festival.

Rules & Terms

All films must be complete upon submission. No works in progress will be accepted. Films made after 2020 are preferred, but it is not a requirement. Short films up to fifteen minutes in length including credits qualify. The Festival will not post your film anywhere online, but we may list a title/screen shot on our website of accepted entries. We prefer to download your movie from the FilmFreeway site, but you may be asked to send a digital file for your film. By submitting, you agree that you own all copyrights and intellectual properties to your work. 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. Any violations of that agreement will result in immediate disqualification from the Festival, and The Fifteen Minute Film Festival, its coordinators, vendors, directors, curators, or exhibitors are not to be held responsible.
The Fifteen Minute Film Festival reserves the right to use any part of your submission for promotional purposes regarding the Festival itself. This includes social media, advertising, and other related outlets to promote the Festival.
Submitting does not guarantee selection. We reserve the right to disqualify anyone based on violation of our rules, objectionable content, or any other reason. Films not submitted in English must be subtitled. Please, no pornography or animal cruelty.
All entries must be submitted by the final deadline, which is May 31, 2025. As a bonus, $1 from each submission through December 31, 2024, will be donated to a local charity, The Friends of Towngate, which is a theatre and cinema supporter.
All winners will be notified of acceptance by June 16, 2025. All decisions made by the judges, programmers, and organizers will be final, with no refund of entry fees. FilmFreeway is the only platform to be used to submit your entry to the Festival. There is no limit on the number of films you can submit, but each entry requires its own fee/submission. There will be no waivers given, so please don't ask.
The submitters of each of the fifteen films selected for the Festival will be asked to authorize the Festival to download a digital copy once notified of acceptance into the Festival, preferably from the FilmFreeway site. IF PERMISSION TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FILM IS NOT GRANTED TO THE FIFTEEN MINUTE FILM FESTIVAL BY JUNE 30, 2025, ANOTHER FILM WILL BE SELECTED TO TAKE THE PLACE OF YOUUR FILM! Thanks, and good luck!
26 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Andrew "Andy" Chu

    Although I couldn’t attend in person, Director Jeff Madzia and the Fifteen Minute Film Festival team kept me fully involved with their warm, professional communication and seamless organization. We're honored to have earned 2nd Place and look forward to joining on‑site next time.

    July 2025
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Thank you so much, Andy! Your film “Life Support “ was one of our favorites!

  • Mike Stinnett

    Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the 2025 Fifteen Minute Film Festival. I was, however, honored that our film, Ideal Recruit, was selected to be screened at the festival. Thank you so much for choosing our film. I’ve always believed that festivals are the best way of viewing indie film productions. Your role in providing that personal recognition to cast and crew means so much. Keep up the good work; you are appreciated.

    July 2025
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Thank you, Mike! “Ideal Recruit” is a great film and we were honored to share it! Keep filming!

  • Chelsea Komorowski

    Great event. Nice crowd, very warm and welcoming. Honored and humbled to win audience choice. Looking forward to submitting in future years and to see this festival grow.

    Thank you so much to the 15 Minute Film Festival team for all their hard work and a great event!

    July 2025
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Thank you, Chelsea! We loved showing “On Thin Ice” at our Festival and the audience really enjoyed it.

  • Ted Fisher

    Great communication from The Fifteen Minute Film Festival. Very encouraging to filmmakers, and a positive, independent spirit. Thank you for including "Out, Standing in the Field" in this year's event.

    July 2024
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Thank you for the kind words, Ted. Your film was well-received by our audience and we hope to see more of your work next year!

  • J. Schwochow

    I had a wonderful experience submitting and showing at the 15 Minute Film Festival! The team worked with me even though I ended up not being able to attend in person. Despite this, I was honored that Looking for Johnson Grass received First Place in the competition. Thank you to everyone who made The 15 Minute Film Festival possible!

    December 2023
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Thanks for the kind words, Jeremy. It was an honor to be able to show your film. Congratulations on winning First Place! I hope you can use the money to help, even a little, with your next film.