Overview
The Phoenix Film Festival is a 10-day festival held each April at Harkins Scottsdale 101 in Scottsdale, Arizona. The 26th edition ran April 9 to 19, 2026. The festival screens approximately 300 films, draws over 28,000 attendees, and operates alongside the International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival (IHSFF), which runs concurrently and shares the same venue and submission platform.
The festival is not currently Academy Award-qualifying. Festival director Jason Carney confirmed in a 2026 interview that the festival applied for Oscar-qualifying status approximately seven years ago and plans to reapply when the Academy publishes updated guidelines. Filmmakers should not submit to Phoenix expecting Oscar qualification for short films.
What Phoenix does offer is volume: 300 screening slots across 11 days, one of the largest programs of any US regional festival. MovieMaker Magazine named Phoenix to its "25 Coolest Film Festivals" list and has called it "the most filmmaker-friendly festival." The festival's submission categories are unusually granular, with dedicated competitive sections for African American, Asian American Pacific Islander, Latino American, Native American, LGBTQIA+, and Deaf Filmmaker-directed work, alongside standard feature, short, and documentary categories.
Submission Details
Submissions are accepted via FilmFreeway. The final submission deadline for the 2026 edition was December 10, 2025, with filmmakers notified by the end of February 2026. The final version of any accepted film must be available by February 5 of the festival year.
Submission Categories:
| Category | Runtime | Eligibility |
|---|---|---|
| Feature Films | 60+ minutes | US-made |
| Documentary Feature | 60+ minutes | US-made |
| World Cinema Features | 60+ minutes | Made outside US |
| Arizona Feature Films | 60+ minutes | Made in Arizona |
| Medium Length Documentaries | 31 to 50 minutes | US-made |
| Live Action Short Films | Under 30 minutes | US-made |
| Animated Shorts | Under 30 minutes | Open |
| World Cinema Shorts | Under 30 minutes | Made outside US |
| Short Documentary | Under 30 minutes | US-made |
| Arizona Shorts | Under 30 minutes | Made in Arizona |
| College Short Films | Under 30 minutes | US-made |
| Music Video | Under 8 minutes | US-made |
| Experimental Shorts | Under 30 minutes | US-made |
Additional short film categories include African American Directed, Asian American Pacific Islander Directed, Latinx American Directed, Native American Directed, LGBTQIA+ Directed, and Deaf Filmmaker Directed shorts, all US-made.
Films may be submitted to multiple categories, but a separate submission fee must be paid for each category. Works in progress are accepted but must be clearly noted. Any significant use of AI tools must be disclosed in the cover letter. Undocumented AI use is grounds for disqualification.
Premiere Requirements:
- Feature films must have a Phoenix Metro area premiere. The Phoenix Metro Area includes Phoenix, Scottsdale, Chandler, Mesa, Tempe, Gilbert, Maricopa, Glendale, Peoria, Surprise, Cave Creek, Carefree, Anthem, Goodyear, Sun City, Avondale, Tolleson, Buckeye, Ahwatukee, Sun Lakes, Apache Junction, Laveen, Fountain Hills, Litchfield Park, Paradise Valley, and Queen Creek.
- Short films may not be publicly available online or screen in the Phoenix Metro area from January 1 to April 30 of the festival year if selected.
- The International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival is exempt from the premiere restriction.
All deadlines are set for 11:59 PM local Phoenix time. Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings Time. Entry fees are non-refundable once a project is listed as "In Consideration" on FilmFreeway.
Screenplay Competition
The Phoenix Film Festival runs a separate short screenplay competition for unproduced scripts under 25 pages. The final deadline is December 10, with winners notified by the end of February.
Screenplay Prizes:
- First Place: $250 cash from the Phoenix Film Foundation, plus festival passes
- Second Place: Phoenix Film Festival prize pack and two VIP passes
- Third Place: Two VIP passes
Contact information for winning screenplays is available to producers by emailing submissions@phxfilm.com.
Major Awards (Copper Wing Awards)
Categories vary by year and may include:
- Best Picture
- Audience Award
- Best Director
- Best Screenplay
- Best Acting
- Best Arizona Filmmaker
- Best Short Film
- Best Student Film
- Best Documentary
- Best College Film
Festival Passes and Tickets
| Pass Type | Price |
|---|---|
| Single Ticket | $19 |
| Flex Pass | $50 |
| Super Flex Pass | $130 |
| Festival Pass | $225 |
| VIP Pass | $300 |
| Platinum Pass | $350 |
Festival favorites returning each year include the Party Pavilion, Industry Night, Film Prom, and Kids Day. New competition categories added for 2026 include Music Videos and Deaf Directed Shorts.
What Filmmakers Should Know
Phoenix is a high-volume, filmmaker-friendly festival. The 300-film program means more selection slots than most regional festivals, but it also means your film competes for audience attention within a packed schedule. The festival's 28,000 attendees over 11 days provide real audience numbers, and the single-venue setup at Harkins Scottsdale 101 concentrates foot traffic.
For Arizona-based filmmakers, the Arizona Feature Films and Arizona Shorts categories provide the most direct path to selection. The festival actively programs local work and the Best Arizona Filmmaker award carries regional recognition.
For filmmakers from underrepresented communities, the diversity-focused categories (African American, AAPI, Latinx, Native American, LGBTQIA+, Deaf Filmmaker) offer dedicated competitive sections rather than a single diversity slot. This means more selection opportunities and a more targeted audience for films addressing specific cultural experiences.
The concurrent International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival effectively doubles the programming. Genre filmmakers can submit to IHSFF separately, and a film selected for IHSFF does not violate Phoenix Film Festival premiere requirements.
The festival does not offer formal feedback on submissions. Incomplete submissions (missing screener, missing password, missing subtitles for foreign-language films) are disqualified without refund. Updated cuts are accepted through the final deadline, but the festival is not obligated to revisit a screener once it has been fully judged.
Festival History
The Phoenix Film Festival was founded in 2001 and has grown alongside Phoenix's expansion as the fifth-largest US city. The festival moved to Harkins Scottsdale 101, a 20-screen multiplex, which provides the screen capacity needed for its 300-film program. The International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival was added as a concurrent genre festival, now in its 21st year.
The festival is operated by the Phoenix Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization that also runs year-round film education and screening programs. The foundation's Filmmaker in Focus program provides development resources for emerging Arizona talent.
Submission Strategy
Submit early to reduce fees. The premiere requirement for features means you should confirm no prior Phoenix Metro screenings before submitting. If your film has played another Arizona festival, notify Phoenix immediately, as this affects eligibility.
For short filmmakers, the online availability restriction (January 1 to April 30) means you may need to pull your film from streaming platforms if selected. Plan your online release strategy accordingly.
Use the Festival ROI Calculator to compare Phoenix's submission fee and potential travel costs against expected audience reach. The Festival Acceptance Odds Estimator can model your probability across multiple regional festivals, including Phoenix's "Strong Regional" tier.
See Also
For Southwest film culture, see Film Locations. For festival strategy, see Film Festival Strategy. To calculate submission costs versus potential returns, use the Festival ROI Calculator.
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