Drunken Film Fest Oakland

Drunken Film Fest Oakland

Also known as: DFFO
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Drunken Film Fest Oakland is a free, week-long festival of short films screened in bars around Oakland, California. Each night a different block of shorts plays in a different bar, mixing animation, avant-garde work, documentaries, narrative films from the US and abroad, music videos and work by Bay Area filmmakers, and the shorts screenings are free and open to the public. The festival shares its name and founder, Jax Griffin, with the Drunken Film Festival in Bradford, England, but runs its own submissions, programme and juries; in Oakland it is produced by Movie Friends and directed by Arlin Golden.

Juries of filmmakers from the previous year’s programme give awards in seven categories, alongside an audience award. The 9th edition takes place 3–9 October 2026, opening with a feature screening at Shapeshifters Cinema before six nights of free shorts in bars.

Country

United States (USA)

Categories

Animation, Documentary, Experimental, Music Video, Short

Awards and prizes

Seven juried awards - Local, Documentary, Animation, US Narrative, Music Video, Avant-Garde and World Narrative - chosen by filmmakers from the previous year's programme, plus an audience award.

Festival rules

Entries are accepted only through FilmFreeway. Films must be cleared for screening in the United States without licensing fees and supplied as H.264 MP4 or ProRes MOV. For the 2026 edition, films had to be completed after 1 January 2025. No more than three submissions per person without prior approval. Films must not be freely available online at the time of entry, except music videos. Films not in English need subtitles, and student films need a copy of a student ID. A film that crosses categories is considered in each relevant competition; Bay Area filmmakers enter the Local category and are also considered in the competition that fits their film. A film about beer, bars or drinking has no advantage in selection.

Contacts

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