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.

Awards & Prizes

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.

Rules & Terms

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.

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.

16 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Don Castro

    This review is long overdue, as I've started and stopped writing one numerous times since last fall. I simply didn't have the words to express how INCREDIBLE this festival and its community was to the filmmakers present. All aspects of the festival, from communication to the collection of films presented to their well run events, were streamlined and effective. But, most importantly, the warm and supportive environment that Emma and Benito fostered, along with other filmmakers of varying disciplines involved, remain unmatched in comparison to this filmmaker's previous festival experiences. I've never felt a truer sense of what COMMUNITY can be. San Diego is extremely lucky to have San Diego Filipino Film Festival in their backyard! Don't sleep on them!

    February 2024
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  • Larry D. Lariosa

    SDFFF2023 was an unforgettable festival and experience. Benito, Emma, and all the staff and volunteers were so welcoming and approachable. Communication was exceptional, and they truly took the time to make filmmakers feel part of a larger community. Hope to be a part of this festival again in the future!

    November 2023
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  • Dexter Hemedez

    Amazing team, amazing communication, amazing festival! Everyone was warmly welcomed and we felt the camaraderie and warmth of the entire community. All the films were screened at the huge AMC theater in San Diego and the visual image and sound were all astounding! What a cinematic experience! Words are not enough to express how awesome this festival is! Thank you Benito, Emma and everyone who gave their all and worked hard for the success of this festival. We are so grateful for being part of San Diego Filipino Film Festival. Looking forward to the coming years of submitting in this one-of-a-kind film festival. Highly, highly recommended! Mabuhay!

    November 2023
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  • Julian Sibal

    Amazing festival. Very welcoming to filmmakers. Emma and Benito do an amazing job of putting everything together, and it's just a great time! Hope to be back again soon!

    October 2023
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  • Jed Regala

    I am honored to be a part of this Festival and what it stands for! It was such an amazing experience! SDFFF staff and organizers are very helpful and accommodating. Such a pleasure.

    October 2023
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