Celebrating 20 Years of Independent Film in Durango!

We are excited to be celebrating the 20th Durango Independent Film Festival (DIFF)! DIFF boasts a reputation as a “Filmmaker’s Festival” – in part due to our championing the art of independent filmmaking – showcasing your film in the best possible way – but also because of the active engagement of our friendly, film-fan community, the warm hospitality we offer here in a quaint southwest Colorado town, and because it’s beloved! As one filmmaker remarked this year, “DIFF is one of the most joyful, well-organized festivals we have had the pleasure to attend! It’s truly a festival where the filmmakers are celebrated!”

If your film is selected and you come to Durango, we give you a night’s lodging, All-Fest Passes, access to private events, Q&As following both of your film’s two screenings, and you are invited to participate in Community Coffee Talks with Filmmakers. Great networking opportunities abound day and night.

Filmmakers enjoy staying within walking distance of our two downtown theater venues, plus great restaurants, boutiques, brew pubs, art galleries, and historic Western Everything. And there’s also the star of many a feature film: the legendary Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge train. Throw in skiing if you have time! Beyond our outstanding Festival parties, we host nightly gatherings in the private filmmaker’s lounge with an open bar – including our own Festival Beer – artfully brewed each year by Durango’s own SKA Brewing.

Our Festival annually welcomes an eclectic mix of narrative features, documentaries, and short films – both animated and live action. We seek out all genres including Adventure, LGBTQ, Native Cinema, and Family. This year we are inviting Nature, Comedy and Music films to join the fray. For the first time, we are inviting online Content Creators to compete side-by-side with more traditional filmmakers (must be made this year and in a horizontal format with high enough rez to screen in a theater). We also curate creative films suitable for students of all ages for our REEL Learning School Program. Please submit your film to ONE CATEGORY only. Our team leaders will alert other teams should they feel a different category provides a better fit. If the jury feels no film merits an award in a particular category, no award will be given in that genre.