Festival Data:

• Established: 1999
• Attendance: 6500
• Accredited Industry Attendance: 975
• Total Number of Films Submitted: 2300
• Total Number of Films Screened: 110

• Competitive
• Retrospective
• Film Market
• Online Festival
• Has Panels
• Has Seminars

Festival Website:

Festival Description:

Washington, D.C. Independent Film Festival (DCIFF) came about because a void needed to be filled. For years, filmmakers, distributors and film enthusiasts alike wondered why Washington, D.C., the third largest production hub in the United States, lacked local support and opportunities for independent filmmakers. The Festival provides a unique showcase for films before they find distribution, and one where filmmakers can have their voices heard on Capitol Hill. DCIFF also seeks to provide a yearly event where industry professionals and the general public come to see the latest, most exciting films - features, shorts, animation and documentary - from the United States and abroad.

DCIFF has established itself as a launch for the the most innovative independent films that have gone on to win awards at the Oscars, Sundance, Cannes, Berlin. Seminars participants also enjoy meeting the filmmakers, such as "An Evening with Ed Sanchez" director of the "Blair Witch Project."

An outgrowth of the festival is the Washington D.C. Independent Film Seminar series that has developed a reputation in the Mid-Atlantic Region for presenting the most informative panels with leading industry experts focusing on the Business of Film. Participants are given an opportunity to meet and ask questions straight to the panelists, which have included top executives from AOL, Discovery Communications, National Geographic, PBS, law firms such as Williams & Connally, government representatives, unions, National Endowment of the Arts, National Endowment of the Humanities, on topics such "Negotiating your rights", "Financing your films" with Grants to private investors, to industry sources, presentations on "High Definition Television", the latest editing softwares, etc.

Festival Awards:

* Audience Award for Feature, Short, Animation, Documentary and Student

* Visionary Award to the film of a political or social level that can provoke change in our society

* Student Film Award: Awarded to the best student film

* Washington, DC Filmmaker Award: Awarded to the film the DC Filmmaker in competition for outstanding achievement

* Cine Latino Award: Awarded to a Latin American film for outstanding achievement

* Grand Jury Award for Feature, Short, Animation, Documentary and Student

* World Cinema Award presented to the most outstanding film in the international Focus, this year, to a Middle Eastern film

Film Submissions:

• Accepts direct submissions
• Submission formats: DVD
• Call for Entry: http:/ / www.dciff.org/ SubmissionsDCIFF.html