AmAuteur Film Festival

The AmAuteur Film Festival is a genre-expansive, all-inclusive, community-oriented film festival with a focus on the new film underground. Our mission is one for the outcasts, the weirdos, the misfits, the ambitious, and the tragically underestimated pioneers of modern film language.

We’re getting back to the roots of what a festival should represent: not a competition awarding the aesthetic marvels that cost a year’s rent to produce, but a pure and simple time of celebration. We’re here to showcase those unique and creative filmmakers redefining the medium while having access to fewer resources, less money, less time, and/or little experience.

You’re not gonna find any A-list celebrities here. What you will find is a community of underground creators challenging the conventions of big-budget filmmaking by embracing the excitement and deeply collaborative sentiments of truly DIY, independent arts. Basically, if you’ve ever had to pull focus while holding the makeshift boom pole with an iPhone attached on the other end… we see you, and we value the work you create!

We also recognize how expensive the festival circuit can be. Believe us, we don’t have that kind of money either. This is why we vow to keep our prices affordable to micro-/no-budget filmmakers everywhere, as well as to give every penny the festival makes back to our selected filmmakers.

Be sure to carefully review our submission rules and guidelines below to determine if the AmAuteur Film Festival is the right fit for your project!

Our inaugaral event was held at DePaul University in the heart of downtown Chicago in November 2025, hosting a slew of visitors including 12 in-person filmmakers. We look forward to seeing your work and hope you consider joining us for AmAuteur 2.0!

FESTIVAL (noun): a time of celebration marked by special observances. - Merriam-Webster Dictionary

I adamantly say I’m an amateur filmmaker, partly because the origin of the word amateur means “the love of a form” and professional means “I do this for money.” So I am an amateur filmmaker because I love the form. - Jim Jarmusch