MISSION & OBJECTIVE
The Philadelphia Independent Film Festival is committed to discovering and showcasing a unique cinematic experience unrestrained by conventional boundaries. We seek out new filmmakers and the stories they want to tell.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
Welcome to our 15th year. With the Metropolitan City of Philadelphia as its pallet, the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival annually meets with local and international independent artists and business community members to screen and discuss innovation, technology, creativity, and diversity in a unique filmmaker exhibition ecosystem.
The festival was hatched in 2007 out of the mediabureau.com film initiative. The group had been meeting as part of the Philadelphia Underground Film Forum (#uff) and with regular submissions and pent up demand in Philadelphia for Independent film, we launched our first festival in 2008. What was once a private screening group has blossomed into an annual event attended by locals and filmmakers from all over the world.
The festival traditionally occurs during Philly Tech Week (#PhillyTechWeek) and programs 80+ films across 12 genres and produces the #DemocratizeContent multi platform discussion . The festival coined the Documentary film genre, RealTime Documentary in 2007 to respond to the amount of digital travel and reporting films being submitted. During the most recent live festival in 2019, we hosted 2,000+ filmgoers and filmmakers locally and from 17 states and over 17 countries in 5 days. We are proud to have launched our VR Lab as part of the PRS Guitars filmmakers Lounge during the 2018 festival. this online development has sprung forward with our web, streaming, and mobile options. The Philadelphia Independent Film Festival never sleeps.
Thank you for the support and we hope to see you out for our sure to be a memorable and truly intriguing 15th year, discovering something new, and engaging the community.
Media Bureau, Inc. Enabling the Unthinkable 
3rd festival has generated submissions from:
21 countries
31 states
We’ll be well represented here in Philadelphia from the Film community at large.
Thank you,
Benjamin Barnett
Festival Director
Philadelphia Independent Film Festival
June 23 – 27, 2010.
Thanks for a great 3rd year! We generated over 8,000 online users and almost 1,000 attendees. The forums and discussions are still going and were fantastic at the fest. Be sure to check out our Video Blogs to see interviews and other interesting posts. Our Facebook page is active as well. Search: Philadelphia Independent Film Festival.
Thanks again and we look forward to seeing you in the studios year ’round!
Thank you for a 4th great year! We expanded to include the Franklin Institute and the Raven Comedy lounge. Attendance was up about 10% and online attendance was slightly more than last year at 11,000+ strong. the enthusiasm and coverage was great and we appreciate all the Blog posts and Tweets. @PhilaIndie has never been so proud! We are preparing for #5 June 20 – 24, 2012. Thank you all and most important the 30+ Film Makers who attended this years festival. See you soon. Benjamin Barnett, Festival Director #piff #Pi5
Thank you for a stellar 5th year. Thank you to the team. Memorable in so many ways but perhaps best remembered for the gelling of the core team and the expansion into Philadelphia’s world class venues. @PhilaIndie is excited to be preparing for festival 6 already – June 26 – 30, 2012. We hope to see you there and don’t forget to to follow the blog and twitter handle for information as it happens. The digital domain is our next conquest and we are sure fellow filmmakers will agree very few festivals do what we do. Regards and much love and respect, Benjamin F. Barnett, Festival Director
8th year submission information has been posted…
Thank you for a very thought-provoking and deeply debated festival #9. A great way to kick into festival #10. Festival 10 submissions are here.
We hope to see you all out in April 2017.
TY!
@Philaindie
We wanted to post and say Thank You again for the continued support of the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival. We do our best to continue to bring you a unique and original curated independent film festival enabling local, national, and international filmmakers. Thank you! Festival 11 Submissions are here: https://filmfreeway.com/piffFilms. We hope to see you all out May 2nd – 5th, 2018 during Philly Tech Week. @PhilaIndie