Welcome and thank you for visiting our site. One of the first things you’ll notice about us is that we’re not like all the others. We pride ourselves on being committed to the industry AND staying focused on the filmmaker and all the content creators that are looking for help in advancing to the next level of their careers.

From our ever-growing list of positive 5-star reviews to our increasing number of corporate partners and sponsors that support our endeavors, VAiFF is the next evolutionary step not only for film festivals but film competitions. When it’s all said and done, everybody advances in their careers just by being here.

VAiFF is a quarterly competition. We accept submissions in the FALL, WINTER, SPRING, and SUMMER seasons. We screen all submissions in their entirety. We do not require a premiere status or 2-year completion stipulation to become eligible for our festival.

All the submissions will have a clip/teaser of their project created for them if a trailer is not available. This clip will be posted on our website and there will be a 21 day online voting period where members of both our and your social media community, friends, and family will vote for your film’s teaser to advance in the competition. Voting will take place exclusively on our website, www.vaiff.com

This is where we not only help you gain followers for your future projects and film funding goals, but we help raise awareness about you as a content creator to the filmmaking community which helps you in networking and finding the right connections.

The projects in each category with the most positive votes will move on to the FINALE COMPETITION.

Advancing to the finale competition means that your entire film will screen at the LIVE VAiFF event, which will take place in October 2022.

Our celebrity and industry judging panel, many of who are Academy Award or Emmy winners or nominated industry professionals, then take over and review the final four films to select a winner. Imagine having a celebrity on video announce YOUR FILM as the winner.

The filmmakers of the best films in each category will also win a personalized crystal award.

But that’s not all…

• The “BEST OF ANIMATION” winner will also win a FREE COPY of Toon Boom Harmony software.
• (3) Chicago-based filmmakers will receive free one-year admission to the IFA Chicago, an independent film community that supplies production resources, talent, and crew to help produce your next project.
• ALL ‘BEST OF…” winners will also receive a FREE COPY of the latest Final Draft scriptwriting software.

One selected filmmaker will be chosen as the recipient of the SHORT FILM PRODUCTION GRANT!

*** All entries, NOT JUST THE WINNERS, from each quarter will be eligible for the SHORT FILM PRODUCTION GRANT. ***

We’re a year-long celebration of independent filmmaking. We are all various artists, and we will stand together as one voice, sharing our passion and vision, one screening at a time.

Awards / Prizes Announcement…

The semiannual Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer genre category winners advance as ‘nominees’ to the yearly grand finale festival and competition held annually every October in Chicago Il.

• The individual winners of the grand finale in each category wins an engraved crystal award with the name of the film, it’s category as well as the year it was awarded.
• Grand prize winners will also receive a combination of prizes and gift certificates from festival sponsors. 

THE GRAND PRIZE!

• SELECT GRAND PRIZE WINNERS will ALSO be awarded a low budget film grant, to produce a short film that must premiere at the following years Various Artists independent Film Festival ceremony!

  But that’s not all. The selected winner will receive one on one educational and mentorship opportunities with step by step production instruction along the way. From development, through production and all the way to completion and delivery, there is no reason to fear the next step of your career, we are a community of artists and you will not be alone.

  You will receive instruction from working industry professionals that will meet you at your skill level and take you further than you thought you could ever go.

  The selected GRAND PRIZE WINNER will be announced LIVE at the conclusion of each yearly festival and competition screenings.

Rules & Terms

Entrants must agree to all Entry Terms and Conditions, which also include deadline, footage use and entry material requirements. Please read all Entry Terms and Conditions in their entirety as submission fees are non-refundable.

1. ALL entries, videos, narratives or documentaries, must be completed and considered ‘final’ before submission into the competition. 
2. ALL entries are allowed to have screened publicly and distributed to other film festivals worldwide. There is no ‘completed by’ date as ALL films are eligible for this festival, whether they’ve been selected for ‘Official Selection’ or denied inclusion in previous festivals. No premiere status required.
3. Please follow the details below in order to submit your project: All films submissions must be submitted via FilmFreeway, a safe and secure platform to upload and stream your film. If you submit via Vimeo, you must provide a link with a download option. Your media must be available for download at its highest resolution. It is the sole responsibility of the Film’s applicant to provide ALL information asked during the registration process via FilmFreeway. https://filmfreeway.com/VAiFF You are encouraged to complete all of the requested fields during your submission process. If there are any setbacks in your application, VAiFF will notify you by email. ALL projects must be submitted via FilmFreeway as a secure digital downloadable link. By submitting your project on FilmFreeway, you accept that this document has been read and understood. You can email programming@variousartists.tv with any festival or programming questions.
4. The festival categories are: Animation (Short) / Drama (Short) / Music Videos (Short) / Comedy (Short) TV / Web Series Pilots / Documentary (Short) / Foreign Film (Short) Horror / Thriller (Short) / Experimental (Short) / Children / Family (Short)
5. Each submission must be 45 minutes and under. Music Videos must be 8 minutes and under. Each submission is carefully considered solely on its own merit by the festival programming committee.
6. Applicants submitting Films that contain significant non-English spoken dialogue must provide on-screen English subtitles. 
7. Filmmakers must allow VAiFF the right to use footage / clips from the submitted project to create, edit and produce festival marketing materials, promos and the like.
Footage, clips and images will NOT BE USED for any other purpose than promotion of the project in its category, live show elements, festival promotions and marketing.
8. GRAND PRIZE WINNER(S) will be selected by the VAiFF Programming board.