Saturday, March 13th to Sunday March 14th, 2021
A Free Online Festival
Register and Watch Again Here
The 8th annual DCIFF High School Film Competition is an integral part of the DC Independent Film Forum (DCIFF). Join us to watch, discuss and celebrate the selected high school filmmakers and documentary interviews by the filmmakers who took part in the 2021 DCIFF After School Program. Join our famed Getting Start in Your Media Career Speed-Meetings and hear from people in the film industry about how they get started. Learn from our behind-the-scenes team about the work we do at DCIFF to promote and support young filmmakers. We finish with an Awards event for the best films presented by professional judges!
“Made in DC” Films by DC Students Screening 2pm. March 13th
Three Homes by Erin Kamm (Wilson High School), Gary Pugh (Coolidge High School), and Sophie Orlando (Wilson High School): The daughter of Swedish and Albanian parents describes her experiences of having multiple cultures within her life and family. 
Welcome to America by Rose Lomax (DC International School) and Ayden Williams (DC International School): A woman who speaks five languages tells of the challenges and joys she faced immigrating from Cameroon (via England and Pennsylvania) to her new home of Washington, DC.
The Beauty of Sacrifice by Isharee Williams (Duke Ellington School of the Arts) and Damaris Medina (DC International School): After economic instability put her family business in jeopardy, a Bolivian woman seeks new opportunities for herself and her family in Washington, DC.
Unique by Antoinette Jean Baptiste (Duke Ellington School of the Arts): A young teenage girl from Brooklyn describes how Spanish has impacted her life.
“Untitled” by Maximiliano Silva (DC International School)
DCIFF 2021 Finalists in Competition Screening 3pm. Sun March 14
2021 judges:
Miriam Kruishoop is a Dutch-American, award-winning filmmaker. She graduated with honors from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. MK won the “Citroen Award” at the Dutch Film Festival for “Best Graduation Film”, for her short Da Silva despite the fact she was only in her 3rd year.
Eli Savada is a film historian and critic. Since 1977, he has owned and operated the Motion Picture Information Service, which has provided customized copyright research reports to over 1,200 clients.
Spencer Bruttig is the Digital Video and Podcast Producer/Editor at TEGNA+VAULT Studios in Washington DC. Among his extensive documentary work is An Unexpected Recovery, a short documentary on efforts to return a species of critically endangered frog back into their native habitat of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Girls in Ghana on how education and the game of soccer has changed the lives of three at risk girls in Africa.
Dare
Directed by Sebastian Plaza
USA / 2020 / 9 mins
A teen undertakes dares for money until he faces a life or death decision.
Removal Recommended
directed by Zia Schwartz Kinzy
USA / 2020 / 7:09 mins
A horror-documentary explores our bizarre obsession with a specific type of body hair.
Birdie
directed by Campbell A. Topping
USA / 2020 / 5:36mins.
A young photographer comes to terms with her sexuality and psychopathic tendencies and the consequences of both.
Marked
directed by Samantha Cohn and Madeline Simpson
USA / 2020 / 15:14 mins
A teenager encounters a mysterious man who commits suicide in front of him. The film follows his friends as they investigate the tragedy.
Disowned
directed by Andrew Stevens
USA / 2020 / 15:144 mins
The relationship between a son, his father, and his cello comes to a head one treacherous night.
The Duelist
directed by James Altshul
USA / 2020 / 6:22 mins
COSIMA, the world’s greatest traveling duelist, finally meets her match when the mysterious trickster VALENTINE arrives to challenge her.
She’s A Rainbow
directed by Leila Alvaredo
USA / 2020 / 9.32mins.
Lina, a teenage girl at Croqueta Central, lives in a topsy-turvy reality where she is unlike most other boys and girls–she is straight.
Dreams of a Dark and Rainy Night
Directed by Aubrey Meiling
USA / 2020 / 7 mins
When we sleep our dreams can take us deep into peace and serenity and into a fantasy of beauty; we are awoken by the realities of life.
Go to: Features / Documentaries / Series / Animations / Shorts / Doc Shorts / High School Films / Program