A free, internet-based film festival sponsored by Farhang Foundation, calling on filmmakers from all backgrounds to create short films of any genre or style, visualizing an aspect of Iranian arts, history, culture, crafts, geography, cuisine, or lifestyle that will inspire and spark the audience’s interest in learning more about Iranian culture.

Farhang Foundation is a non-religious, non-political and non-profit foundation established in 2008 to celebrate and to promote the study and research of Iranian art and culture for the benefit of the community at large. The foundation supports academic activities in Southern California by funding university programs, publications and conferences. The foundation also supports cultural programs such as celebration of Nowruz and Mehregan, theater, dance performances, films screenings and poetry reading in Southern California. Farhang Foundation, in cooperation with various cultural and academic institutions plans major programs and exhibitions about Iran and its culture. For more info visit: www.farhang.org.

All submissions will be judged for creativity, quality, and originality by a jury that will include veterans and notables of the film industry.

  • First Prize $10,000 USD
  • Second Prize $5,000 USD
  • Third Prize is $3,000 USD

Select a film on the festival website by clicking on it. The film should then start automatically. Traditional video controls (Play/Pause, Time Bar, Volume/Mute, Full-screen) appear when the cursor is placed at the bottom of the video screen. To watch films on FarhangFilmFest.org, you must be connected to the Internet.

To submit a film, click on “submit film”, fill out the registration form, and link it from another site such as Vimeo and YouTube. It will take up to 48 hours for your film to appear on your account and on the homepage. We do not filter any films so long as they meet the requirements of our Terms and Conditions. NOTE: The Film Festival management team has the right to remove any films after submission and refuse any entries, if it is deemed that the submission violates any of the Terms and Conditions set forth.

No. If you are encountering difficulties submitting your film via a third party provider, please contact the Film Festival management team at FilmFestival@Farhang.org.

Please send an email to: FilmFestival@Farhang.org. We will respond to your inquiry within 48 hours.

The Director of the winning film is entitled to the prize. Should the Director decide to include other members of the creative team in the awards and/or prize, that will be the sole decision of the Director.  All communication regarding the film will only be maintained through the person who submits the film to the festival.

No. One film per person per year.

Yes. One person can work on multiple films; however, each person can submit only one film each year.

Yes, so long as your submission meets the requirements of the Terms and Conditions of the Farhang Foundation Short Film Festival.

Although Farhang Film Festival does not filter any film that are submitted, they do need to be non-religious in nature and refrain from endorsing or opposing any political position.

Farhang Foundation Short Film Festival believes in transparency and accepts all films that are aligned with the festival’s Terms and Conditions. All submitted films would be available for public viewing on FarhangFilmFest.org.

Farhang Foundation will notify the top six finalists via the email address provided at the time of registration. All finalists will be invited to an awards presentation event, at which point they will be notified of their prize at a ceremony open to the public.