Let’s get ready to FEST! AFI announced today that the 38th edition of the Institute’s annual festival will take place October 23–27 exclusively in person at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre in the heart of Hollywood. The five-day festival will once again include a curated selection of Red Carpet Premiere screenings, Special Screenings, World Cinema, Documentaries and Short Films.
“With awards season in full bloom, AFI is also looking to the future and this fall’s AFI FEST,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO. “So as last year’s films take a well-deserved bow, mark your calendars now to experience the very best of what lies ahead.”
AFI FEST is recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a qualifying festival for the Live Action, Animated and Documentary Short Film categories for the annual Academy Awards®. AFI FEST is also a qualifying festival for consideration for the British Short Film categories of both the BAFTA Film Awards and the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA).
Entries for the AFI FEST 2024 Short Film Competition program open today, January 17, 2024. Short films that have been completed after October 1, 2023, are eligible for submission to AFI FEST 2024. Filmmakers are invited to submit fiction, documentary and animated short films.
SHORT FILM SUBMISSION DATES
Early Deadline – Friday, March 1, 2024
Official Deadline – Friday, April 12, 2024
Final Deadline – Friday, May 31, 2024
Learn more about submitting to AFI FEST at FEST.AFI.com or submit via Film Freeway at https://filmfreeway.com/AFIFEST. Filmmakers can email [email protected] for more information about the submissions process for short films.
Program highlights from AFI FEST 2023 included screenings of 20 Best International Oscar® Submissions and ALL OF US STRANGERS, AMERICAN FICTION, THE BIKERIDERS, FINGERNAILS, MEMORY and PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE introduced by Guest Artistic Director Greta Gerwig. The festival opened with the World Premiere of the apocalyptic thriller LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND, written and directed by Sam Esmail (AFI Class of 2004), and closed with Bradley Cooper’s MAESTRO, with cinematography by Oscar® nominee Matthew Libatique (AFI Class of 1992) and produced by AFI Life Achievement Award recipients Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. Of the official selections, 43% were directed by women, 36% were directed by BIPOC filmmakers and 17% were directed by LGBTQIA+ filmmakers, and the program represented 49 countries. Returning filmmakers to AFI FEST included Nikolaj Arcel, Joanna Arnow, Lila Avilés, Minhal Baig, Kaother Ben Hania, Jessica Bishopp, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Lydia Cornett, Nienke Deutz, Bas Devos, Amat Escalante, Michel Franco, Matteo Garrone, Ja’Tovia M. Gary, Andrew Haigh, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Sterling Hampton IV, Agnieszka Holland, Tatiana Huezo, Corina Schwingruber Ilić, Radu Jude, Aki Kaurismäki, Javier Mariscal, Rosine Mbakam, Steve McQueen, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Christos Nikou, Alice Rohrwacher, Hong Sang-soo, Angela Schanelec, Neo Sora, Fernando Trueba, Sean Wang, Wim Wenders, Roger Ross Williams and Frederick Wiseman.
For sponsorship opportunities at AFI FEST 2024, email [email protected].
To learn more about AFI FEST, visit FEST.AFI.com.
