The Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival and Lecture Series is an annual film festival founded by African Voices magazine. Established in 1997, Reel Sisters (www.reelsisters.org) is dedicated to providing opportunities for women of color to advance their careers in the film industry. Reel Sisters accepts films written, directed, or produced by women/non-binary filmmakers of color. Reel Sisters is the first Academy Qualifying Film Festival for short narratives devoted to women of color across the globe. Reel Sisters is an IMDb qualifying film festival. Reel Sisters celebrates our 27th Anniversary in 2024.

Application Info: You Must Submit Production Stills/Photos and a Trailer for your submission to be Eligible And Complete. You can screenshot photos from your film if you were unable to hire a photographer.

Reel Sisters is a competitive festival and films are selected by an independent jury. Please submit films early as deadlines are final. The festival provides quality customer service and does not offer fee waivers. The fee covers a small fraction of the administrative costs for running a professional Oscar qualifying film festival.

Reel Sisters accepts all genres and formats with a special interest in submissions from animated and web series producers. Send us films that will make our audience “cry, dance, laugh, sing and explore." The festival curates events throughout the year so all entries will be considered for Reel Sisters Tea and Cinema series. Join our worldwide community of film professionals in celebrating stories produced, directed and written by women of color!

For complete application visit www.reelsisters.org

Reel Sisters Highlights

- Listed in Film Daily's Top 10 Women Centered Film Festivals (2018)
https://filmdaily.co/news/female-focused-film-festivals/

- Profiled in Bushwick Daily, Shadow and Act, Film Daily, the Washington Post, Latin Times and Black Enterprise for presenting outstanding films by women of color from across the globe!

- Reel Sisters is a top tier film festival Oscar qualifying film festival that provides a chance for women to gain distribution, network and access to opportunities in the film industry.

Awards and Prizes

Reel Sisters screens original films by women across the globe each year — the festival has screened over 5,500 films since its inception. Awards for Best Director, Best Documentary, Best Screenplay, Best Experimental, Best Animation, Best Feature, Best Short, Best Narrative, Best Web Series, Best Original Soundtrack and the Reel Sisters Spirit Award are selected by an independent jury composed of filmmakers, community leaders and artists. Reel Sisters has given over $75,000 in cash awards, fellowships and scholarships since our inception. In 2023, Reel Sisters Micro Budget Film Fellowship provided script to screen opportunities to three women of color filmmakers who received $5K each towards their short film project. Our fellows receive a premiere screening at Reel Sisters, an Oscar Qualifying festival.

Cash Awards For 2024

Best Narrative Short - $1,000
Best Director - $500
Best Screenplay - $300
Best Animation - $200

Reel Sisters Mirco Budget Film Fellowship - $5,000 (Will be opened shortly)
For complete application information visit www.reelsisters.org

Rules and Terms

General Rules

Translation : Your film must be English dubbed or have English subtitles if it is in any other language.

Production Stills And Trailers : Please make sure you upload production photos with your submission and a trailer. If you do not have photos, you can screen shot a photo by pausing a scene in your film to create one. Your submission will not be complete without all promotional materials uploaded.

No Waivers : Entry fees cover a small portion of the festival’s administrative costs for processing submissions and are non-refundable. We do not offer waivers.

Our Refund Policy : Our entry fees are non-refundable. It is the responsibility of the filmmaker to read our guidelines and policies to ensure that they are eligible to submit to our festival.

To Submit a Film to Reel Sisters :

- Please read our guidelines carefully before submitting your film as we do not issue refunds for entry fees. It is your responsibility to ensure your film meets our criteria and submission guidelines. We rarely accept films longer than 90 minutes. Your film must have a women of color as co-producer, co-director or co-writer, if the lead producer/director is male.

- We only accept films via FilmFreeway. Please Do Not Email Us Any Video Links. If you submit to FilmFreeway via a Vimeo link, you must provide a passcode to view. You must make your film downloadable for our production staff if your film is accepted. If you do not make your film downloadable by the requested deadline, your film will not be eligible for consideration.

- Please contact FilmFreeway staff if you have any issues uploading your film and making it downloadable for our production staff if you receive an acceptance letter.

- We will need downloadable trailer links from FilmFreeway or Vimeo to help promote your film in our festival. You must submit the trailers and photos with your application. If your materials are not submitted with your application, your film will be disqualified.

- Complete the details required, providing brief synopsis of the film, credits, production stills and trailers. We accept photographs in all formats including JPEGs, TIFFs and EPS (electronic photos must be 300 dpi resolution for promotional purposes).

- All accepted films will be notified via email. Please make sure ALL of your Contact Information is up-to-date. If your email changed between the time you submitted your film and our Notification Date, please update it ASAP so we can correspond with you.

- Entries must be delivered by the deadline.

- Failure to deliver a digital screening file on time Forfeits any previous accepted invitation.