Submissions open on August 1, 2024. Submit at the embedded link. See FilmFreeway for our Early, Regular, and Late Deadline structure for each submission type. All submissions will close on January 31, 2025.

• Milwaukee Film reserves the right to determine eligibility of any work submitted.
• Only productions completed after January 1, 2023 may be submitted.
• There is no premiere status required for the Milwaukee Film Festival.
• Works in progress, industrial, and instructional works are not eligible.
• Accepted films may NOT screen publicly (theatrical, festival, or event-type screenings) in Milwaukee County after January 1, 2025. Milwaukee Film reserves the right to exclude films that violate this screenings embargo from the festival.
• Public screenings in the Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha, Ozaukee, Walworth, or Washington counties outside of those dates may affect programming decisions.
• To be eligible for screening in the Cream City Cinema category, the director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, sound editor, key participants, or lead actor(s) must reside in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha, Ozaukee, Walworth, or Washington County.
• To be eligible for the Cream City Cinema awards, all directors must reside in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha, Ozaukee, Walworth, or Washington County.
• All films must be submitted for selection through an online file upload (up to 10GB) or link  to your video via Vimeo or YouTube.
• Accurate statistics are not always recorded using Vimeo’s methods of tracking loads and views. Vimeo videos viewed via a third-party player do not always record statistics in the same way that videos viewed via their direct link in a web browser are counted. If we view your project using the Vimeo app on another streaming device (such as Apple TV or Roku), it is also being viewed via a third-party player. The vast majority of the films submitted to us are viewed in this manner, and therefore the statistics are not counted in the same way that they would be watched via a direct link.
• Non-English language films must be made available with the original language soundtrack and English subtitles.
• For films invited to screen at the festival, exhibition formats must arrive in Milwaukee no later than Wednesday, March 26, 2025.
• Award eligibility will be confirmed at the time of film selection.
• The online submission form must be completed by January 31, 2025.
• Entrant confirms and warrants required legal authority to submit the entry into the Festival and to use all music, images, and content in the entry. In addition, entrant will allow usage of images and/or clips from the film for promotional use on television, radio, in print, and at Festival events.
• Accepted films will be invited to screen via direct email no later than March 21, 2025.
• Films not accepted into the festival will be notified by email only by March 21, 2025.
• Please add entry@mkefilm.org to your list of white-listed senders to assure receipt of this email notification. Due to the number of submissions we receive, Milwaukee Film cannot provide feedback on any entries. No calls, please.

Submission fees for MFF25 increase over time. Early submissions are therefore encouraged. For further details, please see the Dates & Deadlines and Categories & Fees sections on MFF’s FilmFreeway page.

Milwaukee Film is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Fees collected through the Call for Entries process directly compensates our programming staff to review and process film submissions, so please do not request a waiver, unless you meet one of the following requirements:

• If you are an Applicant who is also a MFF Alum, meaning that MFF has screened one of your feature or short films in a previous festival, then MFF will waive your submission fee for any film meeting the MFF25 requirements outlined herein.
• If you are an Applicant who identifies as LGBTQ, BIPOC, Arab-American, Latinx, AAPI or another disinvested identity group, then MFF will provide a discount code for your submission fee upon request.
• If you are an Applicant who qualifies for our Cream City Cinema program, which also includes our Milwaukee Youth Show program, then MFF will waive your submission fee for any film meeting the MFF25 requirements outlined herein.
• If you are an Applicant who resides within the state of Wisconsin, then MFF will waive your submission fee for any film meeting the MFF25 requirements outlined herein.

To request a fee waiver or discount, please fill out the form linked here. 

MFF will not honor any requests for submission-fee refunds. Refunds will not be issued to any Applicant for any submission, regardless of selection for MFF25, for any reason, including changes to MFF25’s dates, venues, or format that MFF may announce at any time.

Our Earlybird Deadline is October 31, 2024.

Our Regular Deadline is January 17, 2025.

Our Final Deadlne is January 31, 2025.

Deadlines vary across categories. Please review our FilmFreeway page for detailed information on all rates and deadlines.

Entrant confirms and warrants required legal authority to submit the entry into the Festival and to use all music, images, and content in the entry. In addition, entrant will allow usage of clips from the film for promotional use on television, radio, in print, and at Festival events.

• Accepted films will be invited to screen no later than March 21, 2025.
• Films not accepted into the festival will be notified by email only by March 21, 2025. Please add entry@mkefilm.org to your list of white-listed senders to assure receipt of this email notification. Due to the number of submissions we receive, Milwaukee Film cannot provide feedback on any entries. No calls, please.

If a film is invited to screen, the following information will be important to have in mind. Submission of work to the festival does not indicate an invitation to screen, the below is provided for informational purposes only.

​Shipping & Materials​

• Exhibition copies of all films and videos screening in the Festival must arrive by Wednesday, March 26, 2025. Detailed technical specs will be provided at the time of booking, to conform with the best possible presentation at our cinemas.
• In general:
  • In person bookings must be screened from a DCP. We can accept HD files via transfer for short films and will convert to DCP for exhibition.
  • We will expect films to provide files that enable the use of closed-captioning, though exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis at the time of booking
  • If you have an audio description version of your film available, please let us know at the time of booking.
  • Milwaukee Film covers inbound shipping costs for all feature film exhibition materials. For short films we anticipate receiving primarily through electronic transfer.
  • Shipping terms are negotiable at the time of booking only.
  • Marketing materials must be made available; materials provided to Milwaukee Film for purposes of promotion will not be returned.

Screening and Appearance Fees

• ​Milwaukee Film values the work of artists and offers to pay screening fees to all films selected to screen in the festival.
• ​​Milwaukee Film does not require attendance, but values the time and energy of artists. In addition to complimentary access to films and events, we are able to provide a modest appearance fee and/or cover the cost of travel and lodging to those who give their time to engage with our audiences in substantive ways. Details will be provided when appearance is being planned; this intent to host many guests does not represent an invitation.

Submission fees for MFF25 increase over time. Early submissions are therefore encouraged. For further details, please see the Dates & Deadlines and Categories & Fees sections on MFF’s FilmFreeway page.

Milwaukee Film is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Fees collected through the Call for Entries process directly compensates our programming staff to review and process film submissions, so please do not request a waiver, unless you meet one of the following requirements:

• If you are an Applicant who is also a MFF Alum, meaning that MFF has screened one of your feature or short films in a previous festival, then MFF will waive your submission fee for any film meeting the MFF25 requirements outlined herein.
• If you are an Applicant who identifies as LGBTQ+, BIPOC, Arab-American, Latinx, AAPI or another disinvested identity group, then MFF will provide a discount code for your submission fee upon request.
• If you are an Applicant who resides within the state of Wisconsin, then MFF will waive your submission fee for any film meeting the MFF25 requirements outlined herein.
• If you are an Applicant who qualifies for our Cream City Cinema program, which also includes our Milwaukee Youth Show program, then MFF will waive your submission fee for any film meeting the MFF25 requirements outlined herein.

To request a fee waiver or discount, please fill out the form linked here.

We accept short (under 40 minutes) and feature (40 minutes or longer) films of documentary, narrative, experimental, animated, and music varieties. Works in progress will not be accepted. Please see our Rules & Regulations (above) for additional eligibility requirements.

The Milwaukee Film Festival includes programs designed to spotlight underrepresented films and filmmakers. Black Lens since 2014 highlights the best in contemporary African American cinema; Cine Sin Fronteras since 2016 presents stories of the global Latinx diaspora; and GenreQueer since 2018 features films about and by LGBTQ+ people. These programs within the festival broaden our audience’s horizons and bring people together to create community conversation around issues of importance to our city.    

In order to qualify for the Cream City Cinema program or the Milwaukee Youth Show (our short film showcase for local filmmakers ages 18 & under), your film must meet the following requirements:

• Director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, key participants, lead actor(s), or sound editor must reside in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha, Ozaukee, Walworth, or Washington County.
• Your film cannot screen publicly in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha, Ozaukee, Walworth, or Washington County after January 1, 2025. Please note that screening your film in one of the above counties at any date prior to our festival may affect programming decisions.

Additionally, to qualify for the Milwaukee Youth Show:

• All films submitted must be short films of approximately 20 minutes or less.
• The work must primarily have been created by young people (ages 18 and under) with only minimal help from adults in an advisory capacity.
• Work may have been created in or out of school or other educational environments. In the online application you will be asked to explain such contexts.

Additional eligibility determinants are at the discretion of Milwaukee Film.

Milwaukee Film, in its ongoing efforts to inspire and promote filmmaking in southeastern Wisconsin, offers various awards to locally made films. Films selected to screen in competition for these awards will be notified in advance of the festival.

However, it should be noted that Milwaukee Youth Show films, those films made by employees of Milwaukee Film or their families, and any films produced in conjunction with Milwaukee Film education programs are ineligible to receive these awards.

Outside of our Cream City Cinema program, the Milwaukee Film Festival often offers juried awards annually. Films selected to screen in competition for these awards will be notified in advance of the festival.

In addition, two audience awards, presented by Allan H. (Bud) and Suzanne L. Selig, are given to the top-rated short- and feature-length films in the festival based on audience ratings.

Additional awards may always be added at a later date.

You will be notified about acceptance via email only no later than March 21, 2025. Please add entry@mkefilm.org to your list of white-listed senders to assure receipt of this email notification. Please do not contact our office before that time.

Unfortunately, due to the vast amount of submissions we receive, we cannot provide feedback for any individual films.

Accurate statistics are not always recorded using Vimeo’s methods of tracking loads and views. Vimeo videos viewed via a third-party player do not always record statistics in the same way that videos viewed via their direct link in a web browser are counted. If we view your project using the Vimeo app on another streaming device (such as Apple TV or Roku), it is also being viewed via a third-party player. The vast majority of the films submitted to us are viewed in this manner, and therefore the statistics are not counted in the same way that they would be watched via a direct link. This is outlined directly in Vimeo's own online documentation, the text of which is included below:

"What stats does Vimeo record if my video is displayed using a third-party player?

Unfortunately, there isn’t very much data we can gather from views that don’t occur within the Vimeo player. For PRO, Business, Premium users using third-party player links, we can only approximate the number of times the file is being played. Multiple impressions / plays by the same viewer in the same browser session will not be counted (like they are when our own player is used). We also cannot count finishes or any engagement / duration stats for these plays. In many cases, we will still be able to detect the website where the view is happening, the location of the view, and the device, however, this is less reliable than it would be with our own player."