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Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF) is the longest-running underground film festival in the world. Founded in 1993, CUFF champions unruly, risk-taking cinema that breaks rules and refuses safe options. As Roger Ebert wrote, “What you get…is not just admission to the films but admission to a subculture.” From roughly 2,000 submissions, we select about 100 films—experimental, narrative, documentary, hybrid, and animated—that challenge conventions and stay with you.
Fiction-driven work ≤ 40 minutes (formally experimental welcome). If it’s primarily scripted/staged, choose this.
Fiction-driven work 40+ minutes (formally experimental welcome). If the film is primarily scripted/staged, choose this.
Nonfiction, hybrid, or essay films over 40 minutes. If the work is primarily rooted in real subjects/events, choose this.
Nonfiction or hybrid work ≤ 40 minutes. If it’s rooted in real subjects/events, choose this.
Form-first work ≤ 40 minutes (personal, structural, collage, found-footage, video art, expanded cinema)
Form-first, experimental/avant-garde work over 40 minutes (personal, structural, collage, found-footage, video art, expanded cinema).
Animated or primarily animated work ≤ 40 minutes (2D/3D, stop-motion, rotoscope, cut-out, mixed media).
Animated or primarily animated work ≤ 40 minutes (2D/3D, stop-motion, rotoscope, cut-out, mixed media).
Short-form works set to music, under 40 minutes (typically 2–10). Live-action, animation, or mixed media welcome. Longer pieces should enter Music Film / Visual Album (Feature).
Music-driven, feature-length works 40 minutes or longer (visual albums, concert/performance films, music narratives, hybrids).
Taila Howe
Festival Producer
Eden Wenning
Associate Producer
Emnet Abera
Event Manager