Now Open: Submit Your Work to the 64th Ann Arbor Film Festival

July 1, 2025

Submissions are closed

Call for Entries: July 1–September 30, 2025

The Ann Arbor Film Festival (AAFF) is now accepting submissions for our 64th season, taking place March 24–29, 2026 with Awards Programs online March 30 through April 13, 2026. As one of the world’s oldest and most respected showcases for experimental cinema, AAFF invites bold, artist-driven films that challenge the boundaries of the moving image.

Filmmakers worldwide are invited to submit works of any length or genre—as long as they challenge conventional forms and explore new cinematic territory. From experimental animation and documentary to narrative, music video, or something entirely undefinable—if your film reimagines what moving image art can be, we want to see it.

Film Categories: 

• Feature Films (60 minutes or longer)

• Short Films (59  minutes or less)

Both categories welcome submissions in experimental animation, documentary, narrative, music video, or other forms of experimental cinema—as defined by the filmmaker.

New in 2026: “Off the Screen” (OTS) Submissions

For the first time, AAFF is formally accepting proposals for expanded cinema performances and installation-based works through our regular FilmFreeway submission portal. While these types of works have long been part of the festival, this marks a new, accessible way to enter them into consideration. OTS includes live cinema performances—often staged on the Michigan Theater main stage or in the Screening Room—as well as sculptural and installation works typically presented in the theater’s lobby areas.

Deadlines & Entry Fees

• Early Deadline: July 1–31, 2025 

  $40 (feature film or OTS) | $30 (short film or OTS)

  
  

• Regular Deadline: August 1–31, 2025 

  $55 (feature film or OTS) | $40 (short film or OTS)

  
  

• Late Deadline: September 1–30, 2025 

  $70 (feature film or OTS) | $60 (short film or OTS)

Why Submit to AAFF?

Each year, over 100 short and feature-length films are selected for competition, evaluated for originality, artistic merit, and technical craft. Selected works will screen during the in-person festival on March 24 - 209, 2026, followed by online awards programs from March 30 to April 13, 2026.

All accepted filmmakers receive artist fees as part of AAFF’s Pay Artists initiative, launched in 2021. In addition, nearly $40,000 in cash and in-kind awards will be granted by a panel of guest jurors—including several Academy Award–qualifying prizes. To read more about the award prizes, check out the descriptions of last year’s awards HERE.  

Festival Director Leslie Raymond shared,

“Each year, I’m amazed by the incredible creativity that comes through our doors during the call for entries, with a wide range of approaches and experimentation with moving image media, as well as a variety of stories and voices represented.” said Leslie Raymond, Festival Director. “The 64th Festival will continue to elevate visionary voices, and we’re honored to provide a platform where boundary-pushing work is seen, celebrated, and supported.”

In 2025, AAFF received nearly 2,700 submissions from over 90 countries, and drawing in more than 7,500 attendees both in person and online.

Ready to share your work? Full eligibility details and submission links are now available at aafilmfest.org/call-for-entries

Submissions are closed