The Festival
The most anticipated installment of San Diego Filipino Cinema’s year-long programming, the San Diego Filipino Film Festival (SDFFF) is back on its fourth year this fall from October 1-6, 2024.

Held during Filipino American History Month in October, SDFFF is SDFC's centerpiece event that aims to raise awareness for Filipino cinema as an important art form and a powerful tool for representation, education, and entertainment.

SDFFF will bring San Diego communities together to celebrate diversity, culture, and heritage through cinema with a diverse mix of narrative features, documentaries, and short films.

Become part of SDFFF, home of the largest curation and exhibition of Filipino films in the United States today, and together, we will celebrate and amplify our stories through the powerful art form of cinema.

About Us
San Diego Filipino Cinema (SDFC) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to nurture global Filipino filmmakers and present their unique and compelling stories and perspectives to our diverse communities in San Diego. SDFC aims to provide unity and pride amongst our Filipino and Filipino American communities, inspiration to young creative artists and thinkers, and a unique cultural experience to the diverse audiences of San Diego. To learn more, visit sdfilipinocinema.org.

SDFFF In-Person Programs and Events
SDFFF celebrates Filipino cinema with six days of in-person film screenings, Visions & Voices Panel Discussion, and networking mixers with Filipino film and media creatives and industry professionals as our invited guests. We also have special events including our Opening and Closing Nights, Centerpiece Feature, and our Jury Awarding Ceremony and Filmmakers Night celebration.

SDFFF Virtual Cinema
Aside from offering our festival-goers a selection of films during our in-person festival, we are also excited to extend our screenings to our virtual cinema that will give our global filmmakers a wider audience to showcase their work to film distributors, online streaming platforms, and film enthusiasts alike. We want to make all our festival film gems more accessible to all our audiences be it in-person or online. This is our way of fulfilling our SDFC goals -- to provide career sustainability opportunities for filmmakers to thrive so that they can keep on telling stories through film and to have their films accessible to as many viewers as possible.

SDFFF will be honoring films with Jury and Audience Awards under respective categories. Categories will be announced prior to the opening of the festival. Past Jury and Audience Award recipients include When You Left Me On That Boulevard by Kayla Galang, The Fabulous Filipino Brothers by Dante Basco, and Fanny: The Right to Rock by Bobbi Jo Hart.

San Diego Filipino Film Festival accepts independent films by Filipino filmmakers and/or films that tackle or discuss Filipino stories, culture, and experiences. Please email us if you need clarification on this.

Upon acceptance to the festival, all filmmakers will be asked to submit a DCP copy and/or a DCP link to their films. Filmmakers must make sure to submit tested and working DCP/DCP links. Noncompliance to this requirement will forfeit your acceptance to the festival. Films with non-working DCP/DCP links may be disqualified from the festival if not immediately submitted by the given deadline.

All accepted films must participate to SDFFF's six-day Virtual Cinema that happens after the in-person film festival within the month of October. The SDFFF Virtual Cinema is a ticketed event and is only available for online viewing to those who purchased the online Fest Pass or the SDFFF All Access Fest Pass. Online viewers can only watch the films within the duration of the event and no later than the time allotted per ticket viewer.

We believe that film has an enduring impact no matter when it was made or released, that is why SDFFF has no premiere status and no year limit completion requirements. However, we will prioritize acceptance of San Diego film premieres in our programming for both features and shorts.

Only online screeners will be accepted, preferably through a private link via Vimeo or YouTube accessible here on FilmFreeway.

We do not accept unsolicited film entries for review/feedback via email. We accept films via FilmFreeway with completed applications and entry fees.

SDFC/SDFFF pays no screening fees to accepted films/filmmakers.

Accepted films have all the necessary licensing permission or legal copyright to screen at SDFFF. It is understood that SDFC/SDFFF is not responsible for the films not being in compliance with the laws regarding copyright or licensing of intellectual properties including music, logos, artwork, commercial products, etc.

SDFC/SDFFF is given the consent to use any and all promotional materials such as film trailer, poster, film stills, filmmaker photos, and other promo materials from the accepted films on all of SDFC/SDFFF social media platforms including and not limited to SDFC’s website, Instagram account, Facebook page, videos, photos, and print materials before, during, and after the festival for promotional purposes of SDFC/SDFFF.

San Diego Filipino Cinema and San Diego Filipino Film Festival have the full discretion to screen your films within the festival or showcase submitted films in parts prior to, during, or after the festival period to help in the promotion of SDFC and SDFFF. SDFC will never screen your films in full outside of SDFFF without your prior consent.

Your film must not stream on public online platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo two weeks prior to the Festival and the whole duration of the Festival.

Make sure your FilmFreeway film account is updated with your downloadable film materials including your director's bio and photo, director's statement, synopsis, film stills (not behind-the-scenes production photos), and film poster. If your film got accepted to our festival, our team will be using these materials to be used as part of our film fest promos.

Make sure that your email address on FilmFreeway is current and active to make sure you receive our notification if your film gets chosen. Failure to respond to our team after our initial notification email may result in disqualification.

Rules & Terms are subject to change without prior notice. By submitting your film/s to our festival, you agree to comply to the Rules and Terms of San Diego Filipino Film Festival.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Roni Canieso

    The San Diego Filipino Film Festival is an amazing festival! Their communication and hospitality are unmatched. Founders Emma and Benito have curated a welcoming and well organized experience for the filmmakers. The location of the theater was conveniently located inside a large mall which had plentiful parking. The networking events were held in various locations all within 15 minutes of the main theater, and showcased a diverse range of the fun spots San Diego has to offer. The volunteers were helpful and friendly, and there were even light bites from local Philippine bakeries handed out after screenings! We were never lost, confused, or hungry at SDFFF!

    October 2024
  • Festival was great!! Well-organized, communication was great, and an amazing place to network with other Filipino filmmakers. Highly recommend, I’ll definitely return in the future even if I don’t have a film of my own to submit!

    October 2024
  • Benito, Emma and the entire team make the festival worth it. The space and community is incredible, with a wonderful line up. I love the diverse programming of films of different genres, voices and from all over. I've attended the festival multiple times and have felt welcomed. So happy to have a film in this year, and thank ful for the audience award. Thank you SDFFF!

    October 2024
  • Chance Calloway

    This is the festival every other festival should aspire to be. Put on by a group of people who care about the artists, prioritize the art, and cultivate community in a way I have never seen before, SDFFF is one of the most inspiring and joyful film festivals I’ve ever attended. A beautiful experience that recharges my love of this mercurial industry we've chosen to be a part of.

    October 2024
  • Alyssa Lara

    The team at the San Diego Filipino Film Festival were incredibly welcoming. The festival featured a well-curated selection of films showcasing Filipino culture's richness and diversity, with insightful discussions and Q&A sessions adding depth to the experience.

    July 2024