Submissions for Out On Film Now Open

(Atlanta, GA) (January 6, 2026) Submissions are now open for the 39th annual Out On Film, Atlanta’s Oscar® qualifying LGBTQIA+ film festival and one of the pre-eminent LGBTQIA+ film festivals in the world. The event will take place Sept. 24 – Oct. 4 at TBD locations and online. 

2025 was Out On Film’s most successful year, with an 11-day film festival featuring more than 150 films from around the world, with more than 100 visiting filmmakers, 15 world premieres and its second annual Queer Film Summit.  More than 17,500 patrons took part in 2025 activities. 

Angelica Ross received Out On Film’s 2025 Icon Award and other guests included Oscar® winning actress Mo’Nique for a 10-year anniversary screening of Patrik-Ian Polk’s “Blackbird” and actors Tuc Watkins and Adam Huss, as part of the ensemble for Garrett Abdo’s “Exit Interviews.”  Out On Film also presented a successful spring film festival and collaborated with Landmark Theatres on a Pride film series in June. 

“2025 was our most successful year ever, a season where we were busy literally all year long,” says Jim Farmer, Out On Film’s festival director. “What we do is as important now as it’s ever been and we look forward to continue to showcase the work of LGBTQIA+ filmmakers, especially at such an uncertain time in our country.” 

Named to Moviemaker’s 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee in 2025, and as the #1 film festival in the country by the readers of USA Today’s 10Best Reader’s Choice competition in 2023, Out On Film held events throughout 2025 such as sold-out screenings of “Heightened Scrutiny,” “Twinless,” “A Nice Indian Boy” and “Boss Up: The Musical.” 

As an Oscar® qualifying film festival, Out On Film’s winner for the Jury Award for Best Drama Short is eligible for consideration at the following year’s Academy Awards® in the category of Best Live Action Short.  2025’s winner,  Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata’s “Two People Exchanging Saliva,” is on the shortlist for the 98th annual Oscars®, as are two other films screened at Out On Film – Lee Knight’s “A Friend of Dorothy” ( Live Action Short shortlist) and Matt Nadel’s “Cashing Out” ( Documentary Short shortlist.) 

Out On Film also offers Jury Awards for Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best International Film, Best Performance, Best Director, Best First Film, and Best Ensemble. Audience Awards are given for Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary, Best Drama Short and International Film. 

This season Out On Film is also a BAFTA qualifying film festival for the British Short programme. 

For the fifth consecutive year, Out On Film will also offer a screenplay competition.  Winners for both short film and feature film screenplays will receive a cash prize and a reading at the 2025 festival. 

More information can be found at https://filmfreeway.com/OutOnFilm. The regular deadline for submissions is May 22th  and the late deadline is June 26h.  

Additional spring and summer programming leading up to the festival will be announced in early 2026.