The Rome International Film Festival was created by, and for, filmmakers. The spotlight is on innovation and creativity. We are based in Rome, Georgia, USA (not that other Rome) but we draw film submissions from all over the world.

You'll love being part of our festival. Rome is widely acknowledged as one of the most charming small towns in America, and festival visitors are welcomed warmly by residents. Picture this: Your film will screen in one of two historic theatres on our main street. Lovely accommodations, great restaurants, and shopping are all downtown and easily walkable. This is a great time to be in Rome, with amazing Fall foliage, warm days, and cool evenings. And in between seeing films, talking with other industry pros, and enjoying our after-parties, you could paddle on one of the three rivers that flow through town, or take a hike in our Appalachian Mountains foothills.

The Rome International Film Festival is well-known for showcasing breakthrough artists --from local Georgians to international filmmakers. RIFF also curates legacy films, drawing industry icons who share their knowledge via masterclasses and workshops. Many who first presented their films at the Festival are now well-established in the entertainment industry. Don't miss this gem.

Selected as one of "20 Festivals Worth the Entry fee" by MovieMaker Magazine.

"The Best Festival that I've ever attended. Wow!" ~ Burt Reynolds

RIFF presents awards for all juried categories and audience choice categories, such as Best Short and Best Feature.

Awards include:
Narrative Feature
Narrative Short
International Short (Non-USA, or Canada)
Documentary Feature
Animated
Horror, Messed Up, After Dark, Schlock, or Something Completely Different
Latin Film

The Shay Bentley Griffin Award for Best Acting Performance

Special Jury Awards

By entering The Rome International Film Festival, you agree to follow its rules and guidelines.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

• We consider films in any language, from anywhere in the world. English subtitles are required for non-English language films.
• We will consider work in progress. Please include a title card describing what is unfinished at the beginning of the submission screener.
• We consider films regardless of their premiere status. Even if your film has already premiered at another festival, whether it screened at a physical venue or online, it’s still eligible for consideration. Premieres are always welcome, and we do work to spotlight them.
• Films must have been completed within three years of the submission date. We will allow for older films that stalled and are getting a delayed release.
• Features that are currently online for commercial streaming are not eligible.
• Features previously self-distributed by the filmmakers online are not eligible for consideration in Feature categories.
• Only independently produced episodes completed within three years or later are accepted into the Episodes category.
• There are no requirements for short film submissions other than they are less than 30 minutes in runtime.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

• Entrants can update their screener by uploading a new video file, provided your original link URL does not change. The link must stay the same after you have submitted your entry. If it is replaced, programmers will lose access to your screener, and it may not be watched in time.
• All screeners must be uploaded by the appropriate deadline.
• Deadlines close at 11:59 PM EST.
• We will contact entrants if there's anything wrong with the submission. If this occurs, you will need to fix the submission issue by the requested deadline. Otherwise, we cannot guarantee that your film will be reviewed in time.
• We DO NOT provide refunds for festival entries.

HOW WE PROGRAM

• At least two different screeners will watch each film. If you are using Vimeo Pro stats, you can track the watches most of the time. However, we have had many cases in which watches were not recorded correctly, including for some of the accepted films. We prefer the FilmFreeway uploaded screener.
• Programmers determine festival selections.
• Our programmers are not required to read submission cover letters and other supporting materials, but we encourage you to submit them if they want to learn more about you and your film.
• We do not share programming feedback with entrants.

IF ACCEPTED

• Accepted filmmakers will be notified via email, phone or text. Filmmakers must confirm their participation by the given deadline. If not, their spot in the line-up may be lost
• Accepted filmmakers must be the authors of their submitted work and be ready to sign an agreement stating that they own all rights to their film and its components ahead of screening at The Rome International Film Festival.
• If accepted, entrants are responsible for delivering their festival exhibition copy, trailer, screener link, press stills, and press kit in a timely fashion.
• If accepted, filmmakers are expected to attend the festival.
• We DO NOT cover travel expenses.
• We DO NOT cover shipping expenses for screening copies and other materials.
• We Do NOT provide screening fees.

Please follow these submission guidelines if you are mailing your items:

Note: We prefer a high-resolution digital copy of the film. (H.264 or .mov) Only send media copy if the digital format is not an option.

A copy of your Blu-Ray or DVD, in NTSC (If needed).

A reproducible photo or electronic image suitable for use in the program.

A synopsis or description alone on one page (one paragraph, appropriate for quick reading)

Be sure to include your name and return address clearly on the package and include the category on the label.

Please include your FilmFreeway tracking number on all physical materials.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Rome was a fun little city to have the event, lots of shops and restaurants to walk to. The festival was set up well enough and felt like a big deal. Different venues to walk to for different events, VIP hang out spaces is a nice touch.

    However... I don't write this to be harsh, I simply write this to edify and hopefully shed light on issues that might be unknown to the organizers.

    The festival seems to only cater to the feature films and the celebrity that they bring, as I had to force introductions to anyone involved even though my short was playing. When winning an award it was clear no one was at the screening, and no one knew who we were. So that was strange walking up to shake hands or whatever we were supposed to do. On that note, it could benefit if the awards ceremony had stills or something from the films as they are presented, as most of the people have no idea what each film is unless they went to every single event.

    And they wouldn't have as the timing of the events was strange, at least in our experience. For example GA made shorts ran about the same time as the regular Shorts category, in two different venues. We had friends who made their films in GA in the regular Shorts category, but we had to leave to go to our venue for the GA made group. So people were bummed they couldn't support each category. There seemed to be plenty of better options to spread those categories out.

    Next issue was with the venue we were in, Screen 417. Interesting concept, a couple rows of seats facing one way, and then a bunch of TVs and sitting areas facing other directions around the room, so everyone is seeing the same stuff at the same time. However, the projector was clearly not color calibrated so everyone's projects looked pretty horrible and then it seemed like the venue operators were worried about disturbing their commercial neighbors as they kept turning the sound up and down. Our film for example, you could barely hear music in certain parts as they kept turning the volume up and down, and it was washed out in a warm yellowy tint... which was very incorrect. Sub optimal viewing experience.

    Later I went to a screening of a feature, and my biggest problem arose. Firstly, one of the board members sat in the middle of the theater and kept pulling out his phone to check... I dunno, I assume on other things going on, then he'd go and whisper to the other worker next to him. Then a camera man filming the Q&A afterwards, sat in the audience in the middle of the venue, flashlight on, sound on his phone on, texting and fixing something on his camera... the entire film. I told him to turn his sound off as you could hear the clicking of the keyboard as he texted, and he just turned and stared at me and did nothing. Absolutely ridiculous to have workers at a film festival on their phone, in the audience. The last place I would expect people to not know how to watch a film or be in attendance of a film would be at a film festival. I felt bad for the people in front of me who clearly had just bought tickets to watch the movie and were not filmmakers of any kind. They were very distracted. I talked to the board member afterwards and he apologized and said they'd try to do better. He was very nice about it, so I appreciated that.

    The main event was a feature I very much enjoyed, and the theater was packed, that was the best experience of the festival, so congrats on making that event very special... Even if the project cast a shadow on the top of the movie the entire time from another projector being in the way for some strange reason.

    All in all, an ok experience where the emphasis seemed to be on the celebrity and his film, and the after parties. My unwarranted suggestion, work on scheduling and (if you don't already) have someone dedicated to short film categories development, outreach, and on site interaction as that is where the biggest draw of local filmmakers will be from, and winning over the locals to show how important film is in GA is an absolute must. I don't care about feeling like a celebrity, I get it, we're not the main draw, but I do care about feeling like I'm meant to be there.

    Anyways, thanks for selecting our little action flick. Glad we were able to be apart of 2024.

    January 2025
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    Response from festival:

    Hi Walker. Wow! Your feedback is detailed and we always appreciate anything that can help us continue to work on making things better for our filmmaker guests in Rome and at the Festival. We were thrilled to showcase your short, and to see you accept an award from our talented jury. We usually get stellar reviews from our filmmakers, so we are sorry your experience wasn't that of excellence across the board, though we acknowledge that one person's stellar is another one's just ok. We will take your feedback as an opportunity to improve. Best of luck to you in 2025!

  • RIFF is a wonderful festival with a terrific venue, an incredibly hospitable staff, and exceptional taste in their programming. Seth and the whole team took good care of my film and myself. It's a classy yet down-to-earth festival that strives to include a variety of different filmmaking voices. Very highly recommended!

    November 2024
  • One of the best festivals out there and one of my favorites. The people of Georgia's Rome are absolutely the best and host an amazing event.

    November 2024
  • Paul Romero Mendez

    Our film 'Ruth' screened at RIFF 2024 and all I can say is this is an absolute gem of a festival. Its hands down the best festival ive ever attended and I recommend it to any filmmaker who truly wants their film apprecaited by a wonderful welcoming community.

    The City of Rome and its friendly residents really love and promote the arts, it was a beautiful experience and one i plan to repeat every year! (i just need to make another film quickly)

    The hospitality is second to none, the festival organisers take care of you and make you feel special, with VIP rooms and events every day. It has to be seen to believed.

    RIFF does film festivals the right way. Its the gold standard and so many festivals should learn from it.

    Thanks RIFF for having us! I wont forget it, it was amazing

    November 2024
  • I did not personally attend, but our producer represented our film Longleaf Forever. She said it was an absolutely amazing festival with thought provoking films and that she met really interesting people. I was sorry to miss it, and hope to get to RIFF in the future.

    November 2024