Overview
The Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF) is an international competitive festival operating in Brooklyn, New York since 1998. The 29th edition runs May 29 through June 7, 2026, screening 130 films across 36 two-hour programs. BFF awards 30 prizes totaling approximately $50,000 in cash, products, and services. The festival accepts submissions in 6 categories: Feature Narrative, Feature Documentary, Short Narrative, Short Documentary, Experimental, and Animation.
BFF is a submission-only festival. The final selection of 140-150 projects comes entirely from open submissions - no films are invited or curated outside the submission pool. This makes BFF one of the few competitive US festivals where every film in the lineup earned its spot through the same submission process. For independent filmmakers without industry connections or sales agent representation, this structure provides a level playing field that invitation-heavy festivals do not offer.
The 2026 edition's theme is "The Invitation." The festival's top prize, the Grand Chameleon Award, goes to the film that best represents the annual theme, chosen by the Board of Directors from among the 6 category winners. The Grand Chameleon winner receives the Chameleon Statuette trophy from the Brooklyn Film Society.
BFF's venues in 2026 include BRIC in Fort Greene (647 Fulton Street, Brooklyn 11217) as the main physical venue, with additional screenings at 100 Sutton Studios in Greenpoint (100 Sutton Street, Brooklyn 11222) and Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg (80 Wythe Ave, Brooklyn 11249). Most festival films are also available for online viewing on the BFF website from May 30 through June 7, 2026.
Submission Details
BFF accepts submissions exclusively through FilmFreeway. The submission window runs from July 1 through March 13 of the following year.
BFF 2027 (30th Edition) Deadlines and Fees:
| Deadline | Date | Categories |
|---|---|---|
| Early-bird | October 31, 2026 | Features (Narrative + Documentary) |
| Early-bird | November 30, 2026 | Shorts (Narrative, Doc, Experimental, Animation) |
| Regular | December 23, 2026 | Features |
| Regular | January 5, 2027 | Shorts |
| Advanced | January 17, 2027 | Features |
| Advanced | January 31, 2027 | Shorts |
| Late | February 10, 2027 | Features |
| Late | February 25, 2027 | Shorts |
| Extended | March 13, 2027 | All categories |
BFF 2026 (29th Edition) Deadlines (current cycle):
| Deadline | Date | Categories |
|---|---|---|
| Early-bird | October 31, 2025 | Features |
| Early-bird | November 30, 2025 | Shorts |
| Regular | December 23, 2025 | Features |
| Regular | January 5, 2026 | Shorts |
| Advanced | January 17, 2026 | Features |
| Advanced | January 31, 2026 | Shorts |
| Late | February 10, 2026 | Features |
| Late | February 25, 2026 | Shorts |
| Extended | March 13, 2026 | All categories |
Submission fees increase at each deadline tier. Check the BFF FilmFreeway page for exact current fees.
Eligibility requirements:
- Films must be completed after June 13, 2024 (for BFF 2026)
- To compete in juried competitions, films must be at least a New York premiere
- All films in the lineup, including non-premieres, are eligible for Audience Awards
- Works-in-progress are considered only during the final submission deadline stage, and only if the film can be completed by end of April 2026
- All films are in competition with a few exceptions
The NY premiere requirement for competition is a key strategic consideration. Films that have already screened publicly in New York City cannot compete for jury prizes but can still screen and compete for Audience Awards. Filmmakers targeting BFF's competitive categories should hold their NY premiere.
Key Sections and Competitions
Competition Categories (6):
- Feature Narrative - 11 programs
- Feature Documentary - 7 programs
- Short Narrative - 8 programs
- Short Documentary - 4 programs
- Experimental - 2 programs
- Animation - 2 programs
Awards (30 total in 2026):
Grand Chameleon Award - chosen by the Board of Directors from the 6 category winners as the film best representing the festival theme. Prize: Chameleon Statuette trophy.
Best in Category (6 awards):
- Best Feature Narrative - Be Electric Studios rental credit ($10,000), Video Equipment gift card ($100), Brooklyn Film Society cash ($200), Faccia Brutto gift
- Best Documentary Feature - MPE post-production rental credit ($3,000), Video Equipment gift card ($100), Brooklyn Film Society cash ($200)
- Best Narrative Short - Video Equipment gift card ($100), Brooklyn Film Society cash ($200), Faccia Brutto gift
- Best Short Documentary - Video Equipment gift card ($100), Brooklyn Film Society cash ($200), Faccia Brutto gift
- Best Experimental - Video Equipment gift card ($100), Brooklyn Film Society cash ($200)
- Best Animation - Video Equipment gift card ($100), Brooklyn Film Society cash ($200)
Spirit Awards (6 awards) - one per category, selected by the Board of Directors. Prize: $200 cash each from Brooklyn Film Society.
Audience Awards (6 awards) - one per category, voted by festival audiences both online and at physical venues. The festival uses a logarithmic calculation to normalize votes across screenings with different attendance.
Certificates of Achievement - Best Actor (Male), Best Actor (Female), Original Score, Best Style, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Producer, Best New Director.
What Filmmakers Should Know
The $10,000 Be Electric Studios rental credit for Best Feature Narrative is a substantial production resource, offsetting stage rental costs for a filmmaker's next project. The $3,000 MPE post-production rental credit for Best Documentary Feature similarly provides tangible post-production value.
The festival provides filmmaker packages with comp tickets: 4 for feature filmmakers, 2 for shorts, and 1 for animation and experimental programs. The award ceremony runs on the final Sunday at approximately 7pm. The 2026 closing night ceremony was held at 100 Sutton Studios.
Most festival films are also available for online viewing during the festival dates, giving filmmakers online audience exposure alongside physical screenings. The next Brooklyn Film Festival (30th edition) will take place June 4-13, 2027. Submissions open June 15, 2026.
Festival History
BFF was founded in 1998 and has operated continuously for 29 editions. The festival is organized by the Brooklyn Film Society. Over its history, BFF has screened films from filmmakers across all 5 boroughs of New York City and from dozens of countries internationally.
The festival's commitment to first-time filmmakers has been a consistent programming philosophy. The Best New Director Certificate of Achievement and the festival's open submission structure create a context where debut work receives genuine competitive attention alongside established filmmakers.
BFF has rotated venues across Brooklyn over its history, screening in Fort Greene, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, and other neighborhoods. Brooklyn's growth as a film production center - anchored by Steiner Studios at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and supplemented by smaller studios like Be Electric and 100 Sutton - has expanded the festival's industry connections over time.
Watch
Past Winners
Recent Grand Chameleon Award winners and their downstream trajectories:
- 2026 (29th edition): 1001 Frames by Mehrnoush Alia won the Grand Chameleon and Best Narrative Feature. The film had its world premiere at Berlinale 2025 (Panorama) and also screened at AFI FEST. Celtic Utopia by Dennis Harvey and Lars Loven won Best Documentary Feature. Rodrigo by Jacob Vaughan won Best Narrative Short.
- 2025 (28th edition): Mouse by Kenny Riches won the Grand Chameleon and Best Narrative Feature. The film continued its festival circuit through the San Diego Asian Film Festival and Film Fest Knox. Cycle by Laura Dyan Kezman and William Howell won Best Documentary Feature and later received PBS distribution.
- 2024 (27th edition): Atikamekw Suns by Chloe Leriche won the Grand Chameleon and Best Narrative Feature. The film premiered at Festival du nouveau cinema in Montreal, won the Audience Award there, and won Best Film at the Whistler Film Festival. It was distributed in Quebec by FunFilm Distribution. Impossible Town by Meg Griffiths and Scott Faris won Best Documentary Feature and was picked up by PBS for national broadcast, with streaming on Amazon Prime and Apple TV. Blood Like Water by Dima Hamdan won Best Narrative Short and went on to win at the Iris Prize, Oslo, and MENA film festivals.
- 2023 (26th edition): Ciela by Mauricio Sierra won the Grand Chameleon and Best Narrative Short. The film later won Best International Film at the HollyShorts Film Festival, an Academy Award-qualifying win.
Notable Alumni Films and Where They Ended Up
Atikamekw Suns (2024) traveled from BFF to international festivals including Turin and Santa Barbara, and secured Quebec theatrical distribution through FunFilm. Impossible Town (2024) moved from BFF to PBS national broadcast, reaching a US television audience and streaming on Amazon Prime and Apple TV. Ciela (2023) won Best International Film at HollyShorts, qualifying it for Academy Award consideration. Blood Like Water (2024) built a multi-festival award record including wins at Iris Prize, Oslo, MENA, and Al Ard festivals, establishing director Dima Hamdan's profile for her debut feature Amnesia, planned for production in Palestine.
Submission Tips Specific to This Festival
BFF's submission-only model means your film competes on equal footing with every other submission. The Grand Chameleon Award is tied to the annual theme, so films resonating with the theme have a structural advantage. The 2026 theme was "The Invitation." The NY premiere requirement for competition is strict: films already screened publicly in NYC can only compete for Audience Awards. First-time filmmakers should note the Best New Director certificate. The Best Brooklyn Project award gives an edge to films with Brooklyn connections. Works-in-progress are only accepted at the final deadline stage.
Industry Reputation Notes
BFF occupies a distinct niche among New York film festivals. Unlike Tribeca, which programs invited and submitted films and draws major industry attendance, BFF is purely submission-driven and does not court buyers or sales agents. This makes BFF less useful for acquisition deals but more valuable for competitive recognition on a level playing field. Compared to Slamdance, which also champions underrepresented filmmakers, BFF offers a larger prize pool (approximately $50,000) and a Brooklyn-based platform. A Grand Chameleon win carries credibility on the festival circuit and can help secure subsequent bookings.
See Also
For festival submission strategy and budgeting, use the Festival Entry Fee ROI Calculator. For New York City festivals, see Film Festival Strategy. For the Tribeca Film Festival, see Tribeca Film Festival. For independent filmmaking approaches, see Independent Filmmaking Strategies.
