Overview
The New Hampshire Film Festival (NHFF) is a four-day independent film festival held annually in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The 24th annual edition runs October 15-18, 2026, with screenings and events across downtown Portsmouth. Founded in 2001 in Derry, New Hampshire, the festival moved to Portsmouth in 2004. In 2024, The Music Hall, a Portsmouth-based nonprofit arts organization, assumed ownership and operation of the festival.
NHFF programs independent features, documentaries, shorts, and screenplays. The festival accepts films from anywhere in the world, does not require a premiere, and accepts films that already have distribution. The festival also runs a Youth Film Workshop (YFW), where participants write, produce, and act in a short film completed and screened during the festival weekend.
Submission Details
All submissions go through FilmFreeway. Submissions open in January each year. Deadlines for the 2026 edition (24th annual):
- Early Submission Deadline: May 1, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. ET
- Regular Submission Deadline: June 1, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. ET
- Late Submission Deadline: July 1, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. ET
- Extended Submission Deadline: July 15, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. ET
Entry fees range from $27 to $75, based on deadline, category, and FilmFreeway Gold Member status (10% discount). Films chosen for the 24th Annual NHFF will be notified by September 1, 2026.
Key Sections
- Feature Films - independent narrative and documentary features from the US and internationally
- Short Films - competitive short film programs across genres
- Screenplay Competition - feature-length screenplays (80-120 pages, industry-standard format), open to writers 18 and older who have not received more than $5,000 in compensation from the sale or optioning of any screenplay
- New Hampshire Films - films with a New Hampshire affiliation receive additional programming and awards consideration
- Youth Film Workshop (YFW) - a paid program ($150 participation fee) where participants create a short film during the festival weekend
Eligibility and Rules
Key submission rules based on the NHFF FilmFreeway page:
Films:
- Films are only eligible if they have not screened at a US festival prior to October 15, 2025, and/or have not been posted online for public viewing
- No premiere requirement; existing distribution does not disqualify a film
- Submit to only one category; NH-affiliated films should submit to the NH category
- All non-English films must have English subtitles
Screenplays:
- Scripts must be in industry-standard format, feature-length (80-120 pages)
- Open to writers 18 and older who have not received more than $5,000 from screenplay sales or options
- Entered screenplays may not have been previously optioned, sold, or produced
- No material deemed pornographic will be considered
Past Winners
NHFF has run 23 editions (2001-2025). The festival presents jury awards, audience choice awards, and New Hampshire-specific awards. Since 2022, NHFF has been an Academy Award qualifying festival for short films, making its short film jury award recipients eligible for Oscar consideration.
2025 (23rd Edition):
- Grand Jury Narrative: After This Death (dir. Lucio Castro).
- Grand Jury Documentary: The Spies Among Us (dirs. Jamie Silverman, Gabriel Silverman).
- Live Action Shorts Jury Award (Academy-Qualifying): Extremist (dir. Sasha Molochnikov).
- Documentary Shorts Jury Award (Academy-Qualifying): Oh Whale (dir. Winslow Crane-Murdoch).
- Animation Shorts Jury Award (Academy-Qualifying): Radix (dir. Anne Breymann).
- Best Narrative Feature: In Transit (dir. Jaclyn Bethany).
- Best Documentary Feature: Creede U.S.A. (dir. Kahane Cooperman).
- Best Screenplay: Harry-Man (written by Elliot Latner).
- Audience Choice Narrative: Honeyjoon (dir. Lilian T. Mehrel).
- NH Filmmaker of the Year: Brad Courtemanche (Trumpet Gumbo).
2024 (22nd Edition):
- Best Narrative Feature: Bob Trevino Likes It (dir. Tracie Laymon). Also won Audience Choice Narrative.
- Best Feature Documentary: Porcelain War (dirs. Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev).
- Audience Choice Documentary: Safe Sets - Dying to Work in the Film Industry.
2023 (21st Edition):
- Best Feature Documentary: Maestra (dir. Maggie Contreras).
- Audience Choice Documentary: In the Whale (dirs. David Abel, Andy Laub).
2022 (20th Edition):
- Van McLeod Award: Julian Higgins, recognizing New Hampshire natives and residents who have made significant contributions in film and television.
- Best NH Feature Narrative: God's Country (dir. Julian Higgins).
- NH Filmmaker of the Year: Ben Silberfarb (director of Whitman Brook).
Notable Alumni Films
NHFF has programmed several films that achieved significant downstream success, particularly in the documentary feature category:
- Porcelain War (2024) - won Best Feature Documentary at NHFF 2024. Won the Grand Jury Prize for US Documentary at Sundance 2024. Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 97th Academy Awards. Distributed by Picturehouse. Won 30 prizes at festivals worldwide. Streamed on PBS POV.
- Bob Trevino Likes It (2024) - won Best Narrative Feature and Audience Choice at NHFF 2024. Won the Grand Jury Award and Audience Award at SXSW 2024. Distributed by Roadside Attractions. Released in theaters March 2025. Stars John Leguizamo and Barbie Ferreira. 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. Winner of 13 audience awards across the festival circuit.
- In the Whale (2023) - world premiere at NHFF 2023. Won the Audience Choice Documentary award. Directed by David Abel and Andy Laub. The film documents a Provincetown lobster diver who survived being swallowed by a humpback whale. Won Best Feature Film at the Green Film Festival in San Francisco and Best New England Film at the Mystic Film Festival.
- God's Country (2022) - screened at NHFF 2022 with director Julian Higgins receiving the Van McLeod Award. Distributed by IFC Films. Stars Thandiwe Newton. Premiered at Sundance 2022. Based on the short story "Winter Light" by James Lee Burke. Set in rural Montana.
- Maestra (2023) - won Best Feature Documentary at NHFF 2023. World premiered at Tribeca 2023 where it won the Audience Award for Documentary. Executive produced by David Letterman. Directed by Maggie Contreras. Released theatrically by BRKLY in May 2024.
Submission Tips
NHFF accepts films from anywhere in the world, does not require a premiere, and accepts films that already have distribution. These tips reflect the festival's actual curatorial focus:
- Short films have the highest industry stakes. NHFF is Academy Award qualifying in all three short film categories (live action, documentary, animation). Winning a short film jury award makes your film eligible for Oscar submission. This makes NHFF one of the most valuable short film festivals in the US for filmmakers pursuing Academy recognition.
- Documentary features perform consistently well. Four consecutive years of Best Feature Documentary winners (Maestra, Porcelain War, and others) went on to major distribution and awards recognition. If you have a character-driven documentary, NHFF is a strong submission target.
- No premiere requirement means strategic flexibility. NHFF does not require any premiere status. Films that have played at other festivals remain eligible. However, films that have screened at a US festival prior to October 15, 2025 are not eligible, so check the recency requirement carefully.
- Existing distribution does not disqualify you. NHFF explicitly accepts films that already have distribution. This is unusual for a festival at this scale and makes it accessible to films that have secured deals but want additional festival exposure.
- New Hampshire affiliation grants access to additional awards. Films with a New Hampshire connection should be submitted to the NH category for additional programming and awards consideration. This does not disqualify the film from other categories.
- Fee waivers are available. NHFF is one of the few festivals that explicitly offers submission fee waivers. Email programming@nhfilmfestival.com with the film title, description, and trailer to request a waiver.
- The screenplay competition has strict eligibility rules. Writers must not have received more than $5,000 in compensation from screenplay sales or options. Entered scripts must not have been previously optioned, sold, or produced. Scripts must be 80-120 pages in industry-standard format.
Industry Reputation Notes
NHFF has built a reputation as a well-organized New England festival with a distinctive advantage: Academy Award qualifying status for short films. Since 2022, the festival has qualified in all three short film categories (live action, documentary, animation), making it one of the few festivals in the country with this status. This positions NHFF as a serious submission target for short filmmakers pursuing Oscar recognition.
The festival draws approximately 10,000 attendees annually and screens over 100 films from thousands of submissions. In 2024, The Music Hall, a Portsmouth-based nonprofit arts organization, assumed full ownership and operation of the festival, bringing it under an established arts organization with year-round programming infrastructure.
Compared to peer festivals in New England, NHFF stands out for its Oscar qualifying status. The Portland Film Festival (Maine) and the Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) also hold Oscar qualifying status, but NHFF's compact downtown Portsmouth setting creates a more intimate festival experience. Against the Woodstock Film Festival (New York), which is roughly the same scale and also Academy qualifying for shorts, NHFF competes on programming quality but benefits from Portsmouth's tourist draw during fall foliage season. Woodstock has a longer history of industry programming, but NHFF's acquisition by The Music Hall gives it institutional stability that standalone festivals lack.
The festival does not have an attached film market. Filmmakers should not expect sales agents or acquisitions executives in regular attendance. However, the festival's track record with films like Porcelain War (Oscar-nominated) and Bob Trevino Likes It (SXSW Grand Jury winner) demonstrates that NHFF programs films that achieve significant downstream success.
See Also
For New England festivals, see Film Festival Strategy. For festival submission budgeting, use the Festival Entry Fee ROI Calculator. For independent filmmaking, see Independent Filmmaking Strategies. For screenplay development tools, see Screenwriting Tools.
