Set in historic downtown Fostoria, Ohio, the 1st Annual Northwest Ohio Historic Film Festival will bring history to the big screen. In conjunction with Fostoria Area Historical Society, the festival will showcase filmmakers from around the world with films that theme around history and historic events.

Accompanying the festival will be a Farmer's Market, Car Show, Antique Show, and local entertainment in the day long event. The film festival is set in the newly renovated Fostoria Learning Center. The festival will feature a 20 foot wide theater screen with a dynamic digital sound system.

We are currently accepting student films, documentaries, short films, and feature films. This includes any film set in a time period before 1989. We welcome all genres of films. The festival is family oriented so we will not be showing films with nudity or heavy language. The rule on language is no F bombs.

All proceeds generated by the Northwest Ohio Historic Film Festival will go to benefit the Fostoria Area Historical Society.

Awards & Prizes

All filmmakers accepted will receive two VIP tickets to the event. Awards will be given in the following categories:

Best Narrative Film
Best Documentary
Best Ohio Film
Best Cinematography
Best Original Score

Rules & Terms

Films submitted to the Northwest Ohio Historic Film Festival can be of any genre (fiction, non-fiction, animation, etc.) but should relate to a historical subject, location, or character.

Films running longer than 45 minutes will be considered feature films. Films 44 minutes or shorter will be considered short films. Student films must be under 10 minutes in run time.

The Northwest Ohio Historic Film Festival does not require a specific date of release.

Films that are available online on a free platform (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) are discouraged but will not be disqualified from the competition.

All films must be submitted through the FilmFreeway web site and permission to download the film must be granted.

Submission to the 2019 Northwest Ohio Historic Film Festival constitutes an agreement to exhibit the work during the event if selected. All films submitted must not contain any nudity or strong language.

All films submitted must not violate any copyright or trademark laws.

The Northwest Ohio Historic Film Festival reserves the right to deny acceptance of any film at its sole discretion. Entry fees are non-refundable.

Awards shall be given to the following categories:
Best Narrative Film
Best Documentary
Best Ohio Film
Best Cinematography
Best Original Score