Did you know each year a transformation happens in Los Angeles, CA? People from around the globe gather to attend the largest and most prestigious Black film festival in the United States. From 100 million dollar blockbuster premieres to newly emerging Hollywood talent, The Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) showcases a broad array of Black creative works from the world over, highlighting those that reinforce positive images and help to destroy negative stereotypes. Nowhere else can audiences find this unique opportunity to come together through film and art to explore new worlds, meet new people and acquire new information and ideas.

PAFF is designated as an official qualifying film festival for narrative live action and animated short films for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

Venerated by tens of thousands every year, PAFF screens more than 200 new films in state of the art digital projection to the delight of an audience of sophisticated movie lovers. PAFF’s audience loves PAFF and PAFF loves them. Each year PAFF becomes a pilgrimage for attendees who hail from all over the United States and the World! Known for its industry panels, special events and great parties, we invite filmmakers to take this one-of-a-kind opportunity to connect to their core audience and experience the special magic of PAFF.

Did we mention celebrities? Celeb sightings: Denzel Washington, Sidney Poitier, Danny Glover, Idris Elba, Mo’Nique, Kevin Hart, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Phylicia Rashad, Lou Gossett, Jr., Issa Rae, Taraji P. Henson, Trevor Noah, David Oyewolo, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Majid Michel, Alfre Woodard, Blair Underwood, Kerry Washington, Nate Parker, Salli Richardson, Dorian Missick, Jesse Williams, Michael Ealy, Anthony Anderson, Omotola, Jonathan Majors, Amin Johnson, Thomas Q. Jones, Angela Lewis, Tessa Thompson, Boris Kodjoe, Whoopi Goldberg, Omari Hardwick, Chadwick Boseman, Malcolm Jamal Warner, CCH Pounder, Omar Epps, Regina King, Sanaa Lathan, John Legend, Tika Sumpter, Tim Roth, Van Vicker, Gabrielle Union, Alfre Woodard, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Wesley Snipes, Meagan Good, Loretta Devine, Bill Duke, Lisa Raye, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Hill Harper, Mario Van Peebles, Eriq LaSalle, Wale Ojo, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Kerry Washington, Regina Hall, Sharon Leal, Billy Dee Williams, Terrence Howard, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Omar Benson Miller, Joy Bryant, Regina Hall, Jussie Smollett, Robert Townsend, Ja'Net Dubois, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Djimon Hounsou, Glynn Turman, Vivica Fox, Kimberly Elise, Don Cheadle and the list goes on and on.

Jury Prizes:

Best Narrative Feature
Best Documentary (Feature or Short)
Best Director - First Feature (Narrative)
Best Short Narrative or Featurette (Live Action or Animation, Oscar Qualifier)

Audience Favorites:

Narrative Feature
Documentary (Short or Feature)
Narrative Short (Live Action or Animated, Featurette, Webseries)

Programmers' Awards:

Narrative Feature
Documentary Feature
Short or Featurette (Narrative or Documentary)

Festival Awards:

Narrative Feature
Documentary Feature
Short or Featurette (Narrative or Documentary)

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO SUBMIT TO PAFF?
• PAFF accepts films and videos made by and/or about people of African descent. (Filmmaker needn't be of African descent.) Preferably, films should depict positive or realistic images.
• Films can be of any genre -- drama, comedy, horror, adventure, animation, romance, science fiction, experimental, etc. PAFF accepts features, featurettes, shorts and web series; narratives and documentaries.
• All submissions must be in English or have English subtitles.
• Completion Date - Films should have a copyright date of 2023 or 2024. Films completed prior to 2023 can be accepted at the discretion of the PAFF programmers, but will not be eligible for a PAFF Award.
• Film may not have streamed or screened in the Los Angeles area in 2025, prior to the beginning of PAFF.
• PAFF will accept the submissions of works in progress. However, your submission must be sufficiently complete to allow our programmers to follow the storyline and be able to make a decision. We will only accept one work-in-progress version of your film, so please make sure to make it your best shot. (If you expect your final version to be 90 minutes, a 45-minute rough cut is probably not acceptable.) You can include a note in a cover letter about what is lacking (i.e. temporary score, color correction, missing VFX.)

SUBMISSION CATEGORIES
Please review all submission categories carefully before submitting your project. All entrants are required to pay the submission fee of their film’s appropriate category. If you believe you have submitted your film to the wrong category, contact us immediately. Entrant will be responsible for any changes in submission fees. We cannot offer partial refunds for categories with a smaller fee. If the new category has a higher fee, the entrant is responsible for paying the difference.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Each submission must be accompanied by the appropriate submission fee and a working screener. The submitter is responsible for ensuring that their screener link and password are active throughout the entire submission cycle (until Feb. 17, 2025.) If you change your screener URL or password, please see that it’s updated on FilmFreeway immediately. If we discover an error with your screener before our final deadline, we will email you to fix it.

A submission will be considered incomplete if (but are not limited to):
• the Screener is missing
• the Screener has been deleted or password has been changed
• the Screener does not have subtitles (if in a foreign language), audio, image, or any feature that prevents us from properly judging it
• a submission fee balance is owed due to submitting in the wrong category based on the film’s runtime

Failure to respond by the final submission deadline will result in disqualification without refund of submission fees.

After applicable Late Submission deadline, the submitter must contact submissions@paff.org to obtain permission to submit their film. Permission will depend on space availability.

THINGS TO KNOW IF YOUR FILM IS ACCEPTED
• FORMAT - PAFF’s host theater is all-digital. The only accepted projection format for Feature Films is DCP. For Shorts or Featurettes (59:59 minutes or less) you will be asked to submit a downloadable video file link.
• If there are any updates for projection formats, you will receive them with your acceptance notification.
• PAFF will not accept watermarked films for public presentation.

CAPTIONS - Films with closed captioning provide audiences greater accessibility. Captions are not the same as subtitles. Accepted films will be asked to submit a closed caption file where possible, however it is not required.

ACCEPTED FILMS - All selected works must be ready with a final version, or a reasonable expectation of when we can expect a final version, for inclusion in the festival by our notification date of December 1st.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Jamie Burton-Oare

    PAFF has been good to me as a filmmaker, actress, and audience member! I am always honored to participate in LA's PREMIERE Film Festival and the one that means to most to me. I have been taken all over the world via PAFF and I salute Babu, Asantewa, and Medea and all the amazing team members that make PAFF a staple in my life as an artist!!

    April 2024
  • Darwin Shaw

    We were very honored to be hosted by the PAFF. They were able to produce a great festival with high quality awards and a huge number of screenings from all over the globe. The team were so helpful and it was wonderful to be welcomed into the PAFF family.

    April 2024
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    Response from festival:

    We are so happy to have you, and all our filmmakers, be part of the PAFF family. We look forward to seeing you in future and thank you for your kind words.

  • We were delighted that our client, Summer of Violence, screened at their 2024 edition. A festival who knows their audience and delivers. Thank you!

    March 2024
  • The Pan African Film Festival was an opportunity of a lifetime. I was honored to be invited as a first-time director to world premiere my film, "One Person, One Vote?" It was a phenomenal mix of Hollywood royalty, indie, and international filmmakers. An open-minded environment with great networking and a kind and supportive community. The range and quality of the films I saw were super impressive. Finally, I was beyond honored to win the Programmers' Award for Best Feature Documentary and nominated for Best First Feature Documentary. THANK YOU, PAFF, for putting this first-time director on the map. I will be forever grateful.

    March 2024
  • Joe Njagu

    Had a really amazing experience at PAFF. Thanks to the entire team for such a wonderful and relevant festival for filmmakers especially giving a platform and chance to African Creatives. Salute. Till next time

    March 2024