Deadline Fast Approaching For Astoria Film Festival Submissions

ASTORIA, QUEENS — Emerging filmmakers have until Saturday July 10 to submit their work for consideration in this year's Astoria Film Festival.

The annual festival, which will run for the entirety of October, showcases works by filmmakers at the beginning of their careers, with a focus on creators that are not as represented in film and media.

In addition to operating as a "hybrid organization" that focuses on filmmaking and education, the Astoria Film Festival operates their event online and in-person, with a mix of filmmaker panels, Q & A sessions, and movie screenings.

Although the schedule is tentative right now, and will be confirmed at the beginning of September, this year's lineup includes four days of in-person events in Astoria.

The bulk of the events are slated to happen during the first weekend in October, including an opening night at Heart of Gold plus screenings, workshops, and a COVID memorial event at the backlot at Kaufman Astoria Studios.

The festival will conclude with a "Halloween horror fest" at Heart of Gold on Sunday October 31, which includes two hours of movie screenings followed by a live drag show.

Like in years past, creators can submit short films and web series to the festival. And, for the first time this year, the Astoria Film Festival is also accepting feature film and podcast submissions.

All submissions must fit into one of the festival's 12 categories — ranging from drama short to experimental web series or podcasts — and there are specific length requirements for the films: shorts should be under 20 minutes long, and documentaries and features can be up to 30 minutes and 90 minutes long respectively.

Also, all film and web series submissions need to be accessible to everyone with closed captioning.

Creators of the chosen films, shorts, and podcasts will be notified by August 1, and all of the works that are in the festival are eligible to win one of 27 different awards.

Submit your work to the Astoria Film Festival here.

Learn more about the festival here.