Stony Brook Film Festival

Stony Brook Film Festival

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The Stony Brook Film Festival is a ten-day summer festival of independent features and short films at the Staller Center for the Arts on the campus of Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York. Every screening takes place in the centre's Main Stage Theatre, which seats over 1,000 people, every feature is paired with a short film, and most screenings are followed by a Q&A with visiting filmmakers. The selection covers narrative, documentary and animated work from the United States and abroad, often presented as New York, East Coast, US or world premieres.

The festival is produced by the Staller Center for the Arts and was first held in 1995. Audiences vote on the films each night, and audience and jury awards are announced at the closing-night ceremony. The 2027 edition runs 22–31 July 2027.

Country

United States (USA)

Categories

Animation, Documentary, Feature, Short

Dates

22 July 2027 — 31 July 2027

Awards and prizes

Every festival presents Jury and Audience Choice awards: Audience Award for Best Feature, Audience Award for Best Short, Jury Award for Best Feature and Jury Award for Best Short. The jury may add awards for special achievements; in 2026 these were the Jury Award for Directing and the Spirit of Independent Filmmaking Award.

Festival rules

The festival accepts features and shorts in narrative, documentary and animated categories, from the US and internationally. Feature films run 30 minutes or longer; short films run under 30 minutes. Each edition sets premiere and completion cut-off dates: for 2027, films must not have screened in the US before 1 March 2026 and must not have been completed before 1 December 2025. Films shown theatrically or on television in New York before the festival, or available on DVD or VOD, are generally not eligible. No more than two submissions per director and five per distributor or producer. Films not in English must have English subtitles. Accepted screening formats: DCP, MPEG-2, ProRes 422 or Blu-ray. Submissions go through FilmFreeway, with entry fees that rise with each deadline.

Contacts

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