MISSION & OBJECTIVE ~
The Philadelphia Independent Film Festival is committed to discovering and showcasing a unique cinematic experience unrestrained by conventional boundaries.

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL ~
Welcome to our 16th year and what a year we hope it will be.

With the Metropolitan City of Philadelphia as its pallet, the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival seeks out and brings together a unique blend of innovation, technology, creativity, and diversity of film in an ever-evolving filmmaker ecosystem.

The festival launched in 2007 out of the mediabureau.com film initiative. The group had been meeting as part of the Philadelphia Underground Film Forum #uff and with surging and pent-up demand for Independent film at a crossroads, launched the first festival in 2008. What was once a digital screening group has blossomed into an annual 6-day event attended by filmmakers from all over the world.

The festival programs original film across 12 genres, animation, VR, and music video's. We like to discuss the films we program, online and offline, using #piff #pifffilms #uff #DemocratizeContent across our active media networks. The vast majority of the festival program is world and local premier status.

We hope top hear from you and see you at the festival!

Awards & Prizes

Films are selected into the Underground Film Forum #UFF and then awarded with "Best of..." & Underground Film Forum selections.

*The Philadelphia Independent Film Festival is IMDB certified.

Rules & Terms

All work should be original with all licensing obtained.
All films must have been completed 20 months prior to the festival date.
All forms of film are accepted into competition.
Please specify your film in a genre if submitting it as a short or feature.

Feel free to discuss your film and its merit on festival social media properties @Philaindie. Lobbying your film is accepted but we reserve the right to delete any and all comments. Please respect we have only so many available slots to screen.

The festival reserves the right to revoke any submission at anytime.

50 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Connor Rickman

    We were honored to have our feature selected amongst such a strong program. The programmers really love movies and it shows, because it seemed like you couldn’t see a bad movie at this festival even if you tried. Plus, Philadelphia is a great city to visit.

    June 2022
    Helpful
    Officialselectionpiff
    Response from festival:

    Connor, great to have you and thanks for screening with us! It was wonderful to have the great state of Utah represented in the 215! We’ll see you soon and hope to see more work.

  • asmaa ibrahim

    "such an honor to be in the official competition in Philadelphia independent film festival. looking forward to be there with our new film next year."
    Champollion St. Urban Reflections film crew

    June 2022
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  • Andre Joseph

    There's only so few film festivals that truly go out of their way to support the filmmakers. PIFF went above and beyond to give a positive experience for the filmmakers to showcase their work in a high-end venue. They're very fast to respond to questions and I love the fact that they follow and share the filmmakers' posts to let everyone know about their screening blocks. I see PIFF growing as the years go on and I will most definitely submit here again.

    June 2022
    Helpful
    Officialselectionpiff
    Response from festival:

    Andre, thanks for the kind words. Your dedication to putting together an important narrative like you did is why we screen. This is piercing story telling and filmmaking. Thank you for screening with us.

  • Wataru Iwata

    I'm so honored to take part in this festival and also, I'm so proud that our work「Sphere」received an official selection. Thank you very much and hope to join physically in near future.

    June 2022
    Helpful
  • ron pollard

    It was really an honor to be selected, Thanks!

    June 2022
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