The Youngstown Film Festival is back for our 5th annual event organized by Adam Michael, an award-winning filmmaker based in Youngstown, OH.

We are looking to bring cinema from all over the world to the passionate arts community in Youngstown! Through our partnership with Penguin City Brewing Company, we will be able to show & celebrate award-winning films with the entire community!

Our mission is to provide a platform to indie filmmakers who think creatively, differently and outside the box to help make their vision come to life!

*Selection into the festival does NOT guarantee your film will be shown live at the festival. Films selected to be shown at the festival will come from the judges and chosen from the official selection list. If your film is selected to be shown at the festival, you will be notified.

Awards & Prizes

Winners In Each Category will receive...
-Award
-Social Media Recognition
-Ability to do a live Q&A if present at festival and time permits

The winners of each category will be carefully selected by our panel of judges. The films screened at the event will be selected from the official selection list and promoted on our social media platforms and website.

The top films chosen will receive awards at the film festival in a wide range of categories. Both the nominees and the winners will get our official laurels and will be featured on our social media.

· Best Youngstown, OH Area Film/Project - 45 Mins or Less & Any Genre (Free)

· Best Short Film - 45 Mins or Less, Any Genre and includes Documentaries, Narratives, Animation, Experimental, Music Videos and International films.

· Best Ohio Film - 45 Mins or Less & Any Genre. Must be made entirely in Ohio.

· Best Beyond the Box Film - 45 Mins or Less & Any Genre. Dedicated to the brave, bizarre, wild, experimental, transgressive, plotless, or completely ridiculous filmmaking that keeps us all thinking long after the film is over. For the dreamers.

· Best Horror Film - 45 Mins or Less & Any Genre. Horror must be the main element of the film.

· Best LGBTQ+ Film - 45 Mins or Less & Any Genre

· Best Micro-Budget Film - 45 Mins or Less & Any Genre, Under $1,000 in total production cost.

· Best First Time Filmmaker - 45 Mins or Less & Any Genre

· Best Director - 45 Mins or Less & Any Genre

· Best Actor - 45 Mins or Less & Any Genre

· Best Actress - 45 Mins or Less & Any Genre

· Best Ensemble - 45 Mins or Less & Any Genre

· Best Cinematography - 45 Mins or Less & Any Genre

· Best Score/Music - 45 Mins or Less & Any Genre

· Best Writing - 45 Mins or Less & Any Genre. Based on the judges consideration of the overall writing quality of the film as well as how the writing moves the story forward.

· Best Editing - 45 Mins or Less & Any Genre

*Categories with no submissions meeting the requirements will have no awards.

Rules & Terms

-All films must be submitted in English or with English subtitles.
-All films must have been made during or after 2022.
-All films selected for screening will be delivered to the Youngstown Film Festival in MP4 format at least two weeks in advance of the festival so they can be tested.
-Filmmakers submitting must have copyrights or own the rights to the films they are submitting.
-Submission gives us the right to screen your film in front of a live audience and/or promote the film on social media.
-Nominated films will be screened by judges.
-Officially Selected films will be in the running for top awards and possibly screened live.
-No restrictions on premiere status.
-Must include a screener to be officially judged.
-Any technical issues with films submitted is the sole responsibility of the submitting filmmaker.
-No refunds.
-We reserve the right to change/update the terms and conditions of the rules at our discretion with notification being provided to those who entered.
21 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Ted Haynes

    The Youngstown Film Festival is a wonderful experience that we hope to do again. The most striking thing to me was how knowledgeable and insightful the Festival Director was about all 28 films. We were fortunate enough to win an award. Before each winner was announced, the Festival Director provided an actual judge's comment highlighting what they enjoyed. We were able to share those comments with our award winner, who was beyond thrilled to hear that kindness. Also, the festival had a wide variety of interesting films and subjects. Overall, it was a warm and welcoming event that celebrated the collaborative magic of filmmaking.

    June 2026
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Thank you for your kind words and support! We were so happy you were able to attend and enjoyed how we ran the festival! Hope to see more of your work in the future!

  • Madeline Sclichter

    The Youngstown Film Festival and Adam are just absolutely awesome! I’m so happy that I submitted my short film to this festival and can’t recommend it enough to filmmakers. The communication leading up to the event was top notch and the environment at the festival was warm and welcoming amongst artists. A very diverse group of films were screened- a testament to how much this festival values showcasing films of varying genres, lengths, themes, and perspectives. I can’t wait to submit future projects to The Youngstown Film Festival and encourage anyone reading this to do the same!

    May 2026
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Thank you so much for attending and sharing your beautiful work with us! It was a joy getting to connect and talk to you about the choices you made and how you approached the film! Can't wait to see/hear more of your work!

  • Darin DiNapoli

    Great Festival and hope to return again next year!!!

    November 2024
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Thank you! =)

  • Benjamin Carlucci

    My team and I have had consistently positive experiences with this festival. Always wonderful to have fests like this spotlighting local artists and bringing in great films from all over!

    October 2024
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Always love showing your work and bringing more eyes to your talents!

  • Josef Steiff

    Youngstown has a gem with this small but remarkable film festival run by filmmakers and film enthusiasts. Excellent communication; friendly and well-organized team; beautiful venue; great programming of films from around the world; thoughtful Q&A. We at Emerald City are so glad we attended and met some incredible local filmmakers. Ohio (and other) filmmakers, do not overlook this!

    October 2024
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Thank you for attending! It was great getting to connect! Hope to see more of your work in the future!