03/27/2025 to 03/30/2025
455 E. Eisenhower Parkway, Suite 300, Ann Arbor, MI
The Ann Arbor Film Festival is the oldest experimental film festival in North America. Internationally renowned as a forum for artist-made moving image art, the AAFF screens a broad range of experimental work including animation, documentary, narrative, and hybrid films. The AAFF is steeped in a rich tradition of ground-breaking cinema as thousands of filmmakers screened early work at the AAFF, including luminaries such as Kenneth Anger, Agnes Varda, Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono, Gus Van Sant, Barbara Hammer, James Benning, Bruce Conner, Chick Strand, Les Blank, Suzan Pitt, and George Lucas.
The Ann Arbor Film Festival serves as an Academy Award®-qualifying festival in the United States for the Short Films category. The AAFF presents over $20,000 in cash awards to filmmakers in competition, as determined by the awards jury. The AAFF is highly competitive, receiving over 3,000 submissions annually from more than 60 countries. All submissions are reviewed by a minimum of 2 trained screeners, with many films watched and discussed collectively by 6 – 10 members of the festival screening team.