About

Cal Film Festival is a LA-based international event for short films and scripts, welcoming projects from all genres, fictional or non fictional, linear or nonlinear, including non-English speaking, low or no-budget productions, and works from traditionally underrepresented countries in global film industry.

Operating as a curated online festival with a rigorous and fair selection threshold, the festival functions as a barometer of a project’s competitiveness on the international festival circuit. By focusing on editorial coverage and jury recognition rather than screenings, it preserves the premiere status of participating projects while offering meaningful visibility through published reviews of top narrative shorts and quarterly jury picks.

Focused on diversity and inclusion, Cal Film Festival is proud of having among its previous winners Academy Award nominee Paul Raci, BAFTA Award nominees Bella Ramsey and Logan Marshall Green, Primetime Emmy award nominee Brendan Scannell, Daytime Emmy Award nominee Bret Green, Screen Actors Guild Awards nominee Vinny O’Brien, and member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Arthur Roberts, to name a few.

Competition

A Los Angeles-based team with diverse international backgrounds and a strong understanding of global independent production reviews all submissions, evaluating the quality and creativity of each project using a performance-based assessment scale.

The highest-rated entries are nominated for awards in their respective categories. In addition to the main award in each category, the jury may grant Outstanding Achievement Awards (special recognition) and Honorable Mentions.
For each quarter, the festival may also present special technical and performance awards, such as Best Director, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, and related categories.

Any category in which no submission reaches the established minimum score threshold remains unawarded and is therefore omitted from the nominations and awards lists.

All projects officially selected in each quarter receive the official festival laurel and a custom Certificate of Achievement corresponding to their final status in the competition.

All nominations and awards are eligible for listing on IMDb via our official event page.

Editorial Recognition & Jury Feedback

Within the awards structure, top narrative shorts and quarterly jury picks receive published editorial reviews, offering filmmakers curated visibility and critical context.

In parallel, all submitted scripts benefit from jury feedback, ensuring each project receives a considered evaluation.

Before submit, please see the Rules & Terms.

For any questions, email us to info@calfilmfestival.com.

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