RULES AND TERMS
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The Ann Arbor Film Festival is open to experimental films as well as films that demonstrate a high regard for the moving image as an experimental art form, no matter the genre. Each year the AAFF selects 100-145 shorts and features for exhibition in the awards competition portion of the festival.
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Films previously submitted may not be re-entered unless there has been a significant change to the edit. Later versions of a film may be reviewed and/or selected at the programmer's discretion.
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Short and feature-length entries are accepted.
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Short films run no longer than 60 minutes. Feature films run 60 minutes or more.
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Entries not in English should have English subtitles.
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Works in progress may be submitted, but are juried in the same pool as all other submissions.
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Work must be contemporary - completed within the last three years.
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Entry fees are per film entered, and must accompany the entry form for confirmation. Entry fees are non-refundable.
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Make checks and money orders payable to the Ann Arbor Film Festival.
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The Ann Arbor Film Festival does not give waivers or discounts.
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Entries are accepted via secure online screening and 16mm only. We do not accept DVD, VHS or video data files for screening purposes.
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16MM
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If you would like the festival to preview a 16mm print of your film, please contact the festival directly at submissions@aafilmfest.org to make arrangements.
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AAFF ON TOUR
WHAT IS THE TOUR?
The Ann Arbor Film Festival (AAFF) Traveling Tour presents a selection of standout and award-winning films from the most recent festival season, bringing the best of the AAFF to audiences around the country and across the globe. These curated programs travel to theaters, microcinemas, universities, and museums, offering audiences the chance to experience the bold, innovative cinema that defines the Ann Arbor Film Festival—beyond festival week in Ann Arbor.
The tour not only extends the reach of experimental and avant-garde film to communities that may have limited access to this form of art, but also provides meaningful exposure for the filmmakers whose work is featured. Each participating filmmaker is compensated for every tour stop, directly supporting their creative practice while introducing their work to new and diverse audiences.
A pioneer of the traveling film festival model, the AAFF first launched its tour in 1964 with screenings in Paris, Los Angeles, and Berkeley. Since then, the tour has showcased hundreds of influential films by artists including Barbara Hammer, Gus Van Sant, Sally Cruikshank, Don Hertzfeldt, Bill Brown, Ross McLaren, Paul Winkler, James Duesing, Martha Colburn, and Jay Rosenblatt. Today, the AAFF Traveling Tour continues to offer audiences around the world an engaging, thought-provoking encounter with the moving image as art.
63 AAFF Tour Stops
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Northern Illinois University | DeKalb, IL
October 29, 2025 | 5:00pm | Library Program
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Colgate University | Hamilton, NY
November 4, 2025 | 6:30pm | Program 1
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Cleveland Cinematheque | Cleveland, OH
November 16, 2025 | 3:10pm | Program 1
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Cleveland Cinematheque | Cleveland, OH
November 23, 2025 | 3:10pm | Program 2
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Shadowbox Studio & Duke University | Durham, NC
January 10, 2026 | 7:00pm | Program 1
January 11, 2025 | 3:00pm | Program 2
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Wealthy Theater | Grand Rapids, MI
January 23, 2026 | 7:00pm | Program 1
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Bowling Green State University | Bowling Green, OH
January 29, 2026 | 7:30pm | Program 2
Casket Cinema/MCAD | Minneapolis, MN
February 5, 2026 | 1:00PM | Program 1
Check back for more Tour dates and locations!
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63 AAFF TOUR PROGRAMS
Program 1
Uncle Bardo | Luke Mistruzzi (Hamilton,Canada)
Simulacrumbs | Joanie Wind (Detroit, MI)
Sinkholes | Karen Russo (London, UK)
a shifting pattern | Isaac Sherman (Los Angeles, CA)
The FLOWER CULT of Amelia Earhart | Rebecca Barten (Tucson, AZ)
Moral Support | vuk jevremovic (Jelsa, Croatia)
Purgatorio | Stephanie Miracle, Auden Lincoln-Vogel, and Philip Rabalais (Iowa City, IA)
Las Territorias | Anna Brotman-Krass (Ann Arbor, MI)
Program 2
We Are Not Alone | Adebukola Bodunrin (Los Angeles, CA)
Satellites | Gustavo Ramos (Santo André, Brazil)
My Exploding House | Liberty Nam-Do Smith (Bristol, UK)
Desk Bugs | Hakhyun Kim (Shinjuku City, Japan)
The Sunset Special 2 | Nicolas Gebbe (Frankfurt, Germany)
The Princess and the Peacock | Daniel Baker-Wells (Somerset, UK)
Riding Day | Michael Alexander Morris (Granville, OH)
Deluge | Meejin Hong (Los Angeles, CA)
Library Program
Purgatorio | Stephanie Miracle, Auden Lincoln-Vogel, and Philip Rabalais (Iowa City, IA)
We Are Not Alone | Adebukola Bodunrin (Los Angeles, CA)
Desk Bugs | Hakhyun Kim (Shinjuku City, Japan)
My Exploding House | Liberty Nam-Do Smith (Bristol, UK)
Riding Day | Michael Alexander Morris (Granville, OH)
The Sunset Special 2 | Nicolas Gebbe (Frankfurt, Germany)
The Princess and the Peacock | Daniel Baker-Wells (Somerset, UK)
Uncle Bardo | Luke Mistruzzi (Hamilton,Canada)
Deluge | Meejin Hong (Los Angeles, CA)
Satellites | Gustavo Ramos (Santo André, Brazil)
I Hope This Helps Program
Riding Day | Michael Alexander Morris (Granville, OH)
Desk Bugs | Hakhyun Kim (Shinjuku City, Japan)
Simulacrumbs | Joanie Wind (Detroit, MI) ​
Feature Film:
I Hope This Helps! | Daniel M. Freed Lexington, KY
HOW TO BOOK
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For more information about booking the tour, including rates, please email us at tour@aafilmfest.org.
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PROMOTION
To support your promotion of the AAFF tour program(s), we provide high-quality still images, a customized PDF for printing posters/flyers, customized digital assets, a PDF program summary to hand out to attendees, festival graphics, and copy. In addition, the AAFF promotes each tour stop on its website and monthly eNewsletter (more than 7,000 active subscribers), and will conduct basic press outreach to each tour stop's host city to help ensure media coverage.