Screen beyond the noise
Submit your work for consideration in a festival environment shaped by independent cinema, curated programming, and audience discovery.
Submit a Film
Share Your Story
Have a film you'd like to showcase at the Catalina Film Festival & Institute? We'd love to hear from you!
Submission pathway
One official route for every submission.
Catalina Film Festival accepts submissions through FilmFreeway. Please use the official FilmFreeway page for current categories, fees, deadlines, notification dates, runtime requirements, eligibility details, and submission rules.
This page is here to help you understand the spirit of the festival before submitting. The official submission platform should always be treated as the source of truth for practical requirements.
Open FilmFreeway
Why submit
A festival built around place, cinema, and connection.
Catalina Film Festival is more than a screening destination. It is an island setting for filmmakers, audiences, industry guests, and creative communities to gather around independent storytelling.
Meet people around the work
The festival experience is designed around more than watching films. Q&As, panels, events, and informal conversations help films live beyond the screening room.
Bring your story to Catalina
Catalina Island gives the festival a distinctive frame: intimate, cinematic, coastal, and close enough to Los Angeles to remain connected to the wider industry.
Before you submit
Prepare your materials carefully.
Before opening FilmFreeway, make sure your project information, screener, credits, synopsis, poster, stills, trailer, subtitles, and contact details are accurate and ready.
If your film is not in English, check the official subtitle requirements before submitting. If your project includes third-party music, archive footage, artwork, trademarks, or other protected material, make sure you have the necessary permissions.
Recommended checklist
- Final or festival-ready screener.
- Accurate title, runtime, country, language, and completion date.
- Short and long synopsis.
- Director biography and filmmaker statement.
- Poster, stills, trailer, and press materials if available.
- English subtitles where required.
- Correct submitter contact information.
- Rights, releases, and permissions cleared before submission.
Submission categories
Films, scripts, animation, student work, and more.
Catalina Film Festival celebrates a wide range of independent work. Exact categories and eligibility requirements may change, so always confirm the current list on FilmFreeway before submitting.
Features & Shorts
Narrative, documentary, short-form, and feature-length work from emerging and established voices.
Animation & Genre Work
Animated films, horror, experimental projects, and visually distinctive storytelling built for the screen.
Student & Screenplay Projects
Work from students, new filmmakers, and writers developing stories for the next stage of production.
How it works
Submit through FilmFreeway. Track everything there.
FilmFreeway is the official submission pathway. Use it to review deadlines, select the correct category, pay any applicable fee, upload or link your screener, and monitor your submission status.
Please do not rely on copied deadlines or unofficial information from old pages, screenshots, social posts, or third-party listings. The official FilmFreeway page should be checked before making a submission decision.
Submit on FilmFreewayProcess
1. Review the official rules
Read the current categories, eligibility notes, fees, deadlines, and material requirements.
2. Choose the correct category
Select the category that best matches your project type, runtime, status, and submission goals.
3. Submit your project
Complete your submission through FilmFreeway and make sure your screener and contact details are working.
4. Watch for updates
Notification dates and status updates should be followed through the official submission platform.
Important notes
Keep the official rules in one place.
To avoid confusion, the website should guide filmmakers clearly without recreating every submission rule locally. This protects both the festival team and the filmmaker.
Check FilmFreeway
Submission fees, discounts, waiver rules, and refund policies should be reviewed directly on the official submission platform.
Use official dates
Early, regular, late, extended, final, and notification dates may change. Confirm the current dates before submitting.
Submit complete work
Make sure screeners, subtitles, links, passwords, credits, images, and contact information are correct before submitting.
Filmmaker support
Questions before submitting?
If you have a practical question about the festival, your project, accessibility, press materials, or attendance, contact the festival team before submitting where possible.
For category-specific rules, fees, deadlines, and technical submission requirements, always check FilmFreeway first.
Ready?
Your story belongs on the island.
Submit your film through the official Catalina Film Festival FilmFreeway page and take the next step toward bringing your work to audiences, filmmakers, and industry guests on Catalina Island.