Film Submission Information

The Queen City Film Festival (QCFF), Western Maryland’s premiere film festival, is held each year in early Fall in Cumberland, Maryland. Founded in 2012, and currently in our ELEVENTH year, QCFF 2023 will be held October 5-8, 2023 at The Venue At Mezzos in Cumberland, Maryland. QCFF offers a four-day program of screenings and welcomes filmmakers from around the world. Located in Allegany County, Cumberland offers a delightful blend of hospitality and history; mingled with charming shops, delicious dining, arts and entertainment and lots of events and activities.

Our categories for 2023 are Animation, Appalachian, Cult, Documentary, Horror/SciFi, LGBT, Music and Social Justice. We welcome eclectic fare and encourage submissions that qualify in as many categories as possible. QCFF also embraces and promotes films by Maryland filmmakers and films made in Maryland. Submissions are being accepted via FilmFreeway. Volunteers for production crew, event staff, or screeners should contact info@alleganyalliedarts.org for more information, or visit us on Facebook.

Awards & Prizes

Laurels for short and feature in each category plus Audience Award for short and feature.

Rules & Terms

We are pleased to announce the categories for QCFF 2023:

Categories include: documentary, cult, lgbt, music, horror/scifi, appalachian, animation, and social justice.

Here are the submission rules for QCFF 2023:

Films that have previously screened publicly in Cumberland, have aired publicly on US broadcast television, or are available for free online viewing in their entirety are NOT eligible. (Online access commonly waived for short films.)

Films with distribution agreements which may require a screening fee may not be submitted without specific prior approval.

Films completed more than three years before October 5, 2023, are NOT eligible. Works in progress are NOT eligible for a Category Award.

You may also submit by mail on NTSC DVD or Blu-ray disc, or on USB drive (.MP4 max 1920×1080). No other formats will be accepted by mail. Submissions will not be returned.

Please include a trailer (preview). Please include a press kit including full cast/crew credits. You may include a filmed introduction to the film, not to exceed 1/10th of the running length of the submission.

If your submission is not in English, English subtitles must be included (hard subs preferred). (Waived for Music Video category.)

You grant rights for royalty-free exhibition within the festival dates. You grant rights to royalty-free use of trailers.