| Location | Washington, D.C. |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1999 |
| Awards | Kennedy Center and US Department of State |
| Website | dciff-indie |
The DC Independent Film Festival (DCIFF) is a film festival in Washington, D.C. Launched in 1999, DCIFF exhibits features, animation, shorts and documentaries from around the world, focusing on cutting-edge ideas, new visions and advances in the craft of filmmaking. The festival hosts world premieres, seminars, and workshops, and also sponsors discussions on topics that impact independent filmmakers, in particular the annual "On the Hill" hearing hosted by the Congressional Entertainment Caucus.[1] The festival includes a dedicated POLIDOCS section for documentary films that shed light on human rights, politics and social justice and an international high school film competition started in 2013. The festival also has an oral history collection program Going to the Movies documenting the role of movie-watching in US cultural history.
DCIFF has continued to be an essentially volunteer-run festival. DCIFF has not been a curated festival. With the exception of retrospectives and honorees, all films screened are chosen through the submissions process. As of 2019, the festival has embraced the concept of deep discussion about the film and increased interaction between films, filmmakers and audiences.
The festival was founded by Carol Bidault de L'Isle who was executive director until 2011 when Deirdre Evans-Pritchard assumed the role.