FILMMAKERS / rEALIZADORES:
WFF 2026 Short Film Submissions Open Sept. 1 - Dec. 1, 2025

Share Your Creativity!

The Watsonville Film Festival (WFF) invites you to submit your work to our 14th Annual Festival, taking place March 12–21, 2026.

For the 2026 Festival, we are accepting SHORT FILMS by Latine & Indigenous filmmakers and/or films reflecting the Latine & Indigenous experience.

This year’s theme, ART & RESISTANCE, affirms that film and storytelling are vital forces for truth, representation and cultural resistance.

We are living in dark and turbulent times, when communities of color continue to be misrepresented, silenced, or erased. For the Latine community in particular, cinema is not just entertainment, it is a powerful way to reclaim agency, tell our own stories, and resist narratives imposed on us. Representation matters now more than ever, and YOUR FILM is a vital tool that can illuminate our humanity, spark dialogue and inspire positive change.

We encourage dialogue between the filmmakers and the audience, in the belief that this engagement will inspire new ideas, solutions and creativity.

What Do we screen?

We are looking for films that are creative, inspiring, powerful, entertaining and REFLECT THE LATINE & INDIGENOUS EXPERIENCE.

To get an idea of what we present, scroll through our film archive to see past Festival films. 

We have 3 submission categories:
– Indie Filmmakers
– University/College Filmmakers
– Elementary through High School Student Filmmakers

How to submit

Click on the FilmFreeway button below to submit your obra maestra! Submission Deadline: December 1, 2025