Celebrating global diversity, the 6th Annual Long Beach Indie International Film & Entertainment Festival takes place September 14-18, 2021 at the Cinemark at the Pike Theaters in scenic Long Beach, California. We are looking for films, television pilots, web series, and music videos of any theme or genre and we love projects that celebrate the triumph of the human spirit.

Women, diverse directors, and projects centering women and diverse characters are especially encouraged to submit. We also have a special place in our programming heart for:

* Music and Arts-focused documentaries
* LGBTQ-centered stores
* Horror/Suspense
* Student and Youth (Under 18) directed films

Entertainment Festival

Hosted in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Commerce's Entertainment and Media Division, Long Beach Indie also includes the LBI Entertainment Industry Conference. The event draws top scholars and industry leaders from across the globe, equips creative professionals with the skills they need to be successful in the global BUSINESS of entertainment, and exposes urban youth to careers in arts, entertainment, and digital media.

About Long Beach Indie:

Since its inception in 2014 the festival has screened more than 1000 films from 50+ countries, drawn over 12,000 attendees, received coverage from more than 300 international media outlets, and drawn Oscar, Golden Globe, Grammy, Emmy, Directors Guild of America, ALMA, and NAACP Image Award winners and nominees as presenters. More than half of our features have gone on to gain national or international distribution.

Location, Location, Location!

Long Beach Indie takes place in scenic downtown Long Beach, California at the beautiful Cinemark at the Pike Theaters (all reclining seats) and a host of other high-end downtown and waterfront venues.

The Pacific Ocean is less than a five-minute walk from the theatre.

Awards & Prizes

Long Beach Indie offers "Best" awards in animated, documentary, and narrative film (shorts and features), horror/suspense (shorts and features), web series, music video, student film, and youth-directed film (under 18).

Rules & Terms

Review Policy

All films are viewed by the LBI programmers and a committee of film lovers, artists, scholars, and industry professionals. Each film is viewed a minimum of two times, rated, and will move to the next stage of judging based on those ratings. LBI programmers will make final decisions and notify filmmakers accordingly.

All decisions are final and feedback for individual films is not available.

Completion Date:

All films completed after January 1, 2018 are eligible for the film competition and we do not require premiere status.

Rough Cuts:

We do accept rough cuts. The final cut must be available for viewing by May 1, 2019.

Screening Format:
All films will screen at the festival in DCP or BLU-Ray.

32 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Rome Mubarak

    Presentation and venue was absolutely amazing and I am happy to me nominated for best suspense thriller for my narrative short. however, networking and follow-up to industry people who can provide future guidance and direction leaves much to be desired. Overall good exposure for the entry-level festival -goer but I think there is room for improvement as a future Academy Awards Qualifier and community conduit/feeder to the silver screen.

    February 2019
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    Response from festival:

    We’re on our way. The Entertainment Industry Conference comes back this year as an integral part of our efforts to educate and assist filmmakers in their lives after the festival. Thanks for the feedback Rome.

  • Lydia Isnanto

    Enjoy the festival, great people and very grand cinemark. I'm honoured for our music video to be selected. Thank you

    November 2018
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  • Javier Reyna

    Very poor communication. No responses for two weeks regarding the film format, then they were upset because they didn’t have the film yet. No communication. My lead actor traveled to host the screening, which had 4 people and no one for Q and A. They only promoted certain films on their pages, not every film. Very disappointed.

    After this review, they sent the note below. Yes, I thought it was very odd to screen films, including mine, exactly at the same time as the awards. Who is going to attend? I sent several emails for over two weeks that went unanswered. Then I found out that if you want to go to the awards events, you had to pay a fee as well. In other words, you may or may not get an award, but you have to pay $100 to get into the awards ceremony. They also asked for $50 to help a filmmakers make DVDs, but if you had one, it was $15 to send DVD back. Our film has been through several festivals, this is not our first one, and yes, you can promote all of the film evenly. Is not acceptable to put blame on the filmmakers to justify an empty screening. By the way, all the 4-6 people in attendance where involved with the film. The festival brought no one to the screening, no Twitter, no Facebook promoting.

    September 2018
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    Response from festival:

    A lesson to all filmmakers.

    We regret that you did not have the experience you desired at Long Beach Indie 2018. In addition to granting a full submission fee waiver and placing your film in one of our choice prime-time slots on our busiest day (Sunday), you requested to be moved to a less attractive slot early on Saturday. You also questioned the logic of placing your film at the same time as the awards banquet. (I think your exact words were "that makes no sense.") The three films that played in the 6:00pm-7:00 pm slots that your film was originally scheduled to play in all sold out. This is not simply because of the timing but also because those filmmakers did a great job of marketing their films independently of the festival efforts.

    Long Beach Indie was created to showcase diverse content and content creators, to create a dialogue between scholars and the entertainment industry, and to be a bridge for urban communities into careers in arts, entertainment, and digital media. We don't have a huge staff but we do have a huge heart and mission. With more than 150 films screening over three days we simply cannot promote every film independently. No large festival can. We try our best to be a space where creative people, many of whom never get to screen in a prime space like ours, get a chance to be seen and heard. If we failed in our mission with regards to you and your film, which was also nominated for best narrative feature, we apologize.

  • Scott Oram

    Staff and event were exceptional. Well organized and great hospitality. Thank you LBI2018!!!

    September 2018
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  • Paula Mozen

    This was a wonderful festival for me to attend. Staff very friendly and supportive. Films are screened in luxurious Caremark Theatre venue with excellent screens and sound systems. I was able to meet other filmmakers and see their work. This festival stands behind its mission to focus on a wide range of diverse voices. If your film is a good fit, highly recommend attending. While there, make sure you connect with the festival founder Dr. Walker, who puts his all into making it happen and an important person who loves film and filmmakers.

    September 2018
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