SUBMITTING

Portland Dance Film Fest uses Film Freeway for all film submissions. PDFF accepts narrative, non-narrative, animation, mini documentary, & most forms of dance on camera. All lengths are accepted. Documentaries are limited to 20 mins. Submissions are accepted from January – April. More submission details here.

If you have questions about your submission please contact us! portlanddancefilmfest@gmail.com

JUDGING

PDFF organizers select 5-6 judges each year to watch, reflect, and rate the films. Each judge has their own area of expertise: film, music, dance, choreography, narrative, etc. The judges meet together multiple times to discuss, and narrow down to the final selection: the PDFF Picks. Because the Portland dance community is small, if a judge had a roll in creating a film that was submitted, they don’t review it and it’s left up to the other judges to adjudicate. Interested in Judging? 

WHAT THE JUDGES LOOK FOR

Portland Dance Film Fest Judges are looking for films that are

  • movement and/or dance driven
  • choreography & dance that is enhanced by cinematography choices
  • cinematography that is related to the choreography
  • Festival curation of diversity in:
    • People
    • Dance/movement styles
    • Production Value
    • Professional/Student

Films will not be selected if:

  • movement or dance is not key component of the film
  • stage performance with film documentation
  • videoing choreography that was originally meant for stage without considering cinematography. Will be considered documentation
  • you do not have the rights to all aspects of your film, including, but not limited to:
    • music
    • footage
    • story/concept
    • text
    • imagery/design

SCREENING

PDFF consists of multiple nights of screenings. All films are selected from films submitted during the submission period and carefully curated by a panel of judges.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 

We acknowledge the land on which we occupy at Portland Dance Film Fest. “The Portland Metro area rests on traditional village sites of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin, Kalapuya, Molalla, and many other tribes who made their homes along the Columbia River creating communities and summer encampments to harvest and use the plentiful natural resources of the area” (Portland Indian Leaders Roundtable, 2018). We take this opportunity to thank the original caretakers of this land.