The Experimental Film Fest submissions for the 2024 season are now open!

Submissions opened on October 1, 2023, for the 2024 season–our 5th! Stay tuned here and on filmfreeway.com for more info.

The 2023 Experimental Film Fest was a huge success! We had more than 70 attendees and they loved the films and the filmmaker introductions. Thank you for an excellent and exciting 4th season.

Submissions are closed for The Experimental Film Fest 2023 season. The festival is in beautiful New Bern, NC. You’ll love New Bern and the festival. The Experimental Film Fest is an inclusive, international festival focusing exclusively on experimental film.

The festival featured free wine, beer, soda, bottled water, pizza, popcorn, and at least 20 of the world’s best experimental films. We had drawings for gift cards, T-shirts, and more.

Welcome to the Experimental Film Fest homepage. If you’re looking to submit films, please use Film Freeway. We use it exclusively for submission, tickets, and processing.

The festival is now located in New Bern, North Carolina, and is your haven for arthouse, avant-garde, experimental, silent, and exploratory films of all kinds. We are excited to see your work and encourage you to push the limits of cinematic media.

The Experimental Film Fest 2023 screening and awards date is September 23, 2023. The venue for the 2023 festival is Bank of the Arts 317 Middle St, New Bern, NC 28560. Watch here and our listing on filmfreeway.com for updates.

Submissions

Submissions are open for 2024

Awards

2023 Awards:

This year, we gave cash awards to the top festival winners!

Festival Winner – BIG BANG – Laura Munoz – US $250

Critic’s Choice – NAKED CAME THE STRANGER – Rosanna Verdon-Roe – UK $100

Best Animation – (Woman life freedom) – Sanaz Safaie – Iran/Germany $100

Best Student Film – Shrub Oak – Sophia Wolfe – US $100

Audience Favorite – Tides – Andre Silva – US $100

Finalists:

second born son: a transsexual documentary – Merit Thursday – US
Shadow – Lu Li – China
The Unseen – John Akre – US
Transmission – Mats Landstrom – Sweden
White Noise – Soyeon Jung – US

Honorable Mention:

Bleach – Eno Enefiok – UK
BOOKANIMA: Dance – Shon Kim – Republic of Korea
Clear Ice Fern – Mark Street – US
Hemorrhage – Ruth Hayes – US
SOULS – Alberto Martin-Aragon – Spain