Here, in the heart of Hollywood South, we are lucky enough to be driving distance from many of the country's most unique and devoted film festivals—from Oscar-qualifying events to small-town celebrations of local talent. Get out your calendar and start making your plans for these binge-worthy weekends.
Southern Screen Festival: November 21–24
Held in the heart of Cajun Country, this iconic festival known for bringing the best of the year’s independent films to Acadiana—and hosting an annual gathering for local film professionals and creatives of other disciplines—returns to the Acadiana Center for the Arts. Details at southernscreen.org.
Abita Springs International Film Festival : January 10–12
Hoping to foster a diverse film culture on the Northshore, Abita Springs International Film Festival showcases a blend of international and local independent films. The festival, held at Abita Springs Town Hall, thrives through highlighting its local appeal, such as its 7in7 Competition, in which teams are given a prop, a line of dialogue, and a Northshore location to be used in a seven-minute-long film. Details about the 2025 festival can be found at abitafilmfest.org.
Baton Rouge Jewish Film Festival: January 15–19
For almost twenty years, Baton Rouge has celebrated its vibrant local Jewish community by showcasing new films exploring and centering issues related to the Jewish experience—all at the Manship Theatre. Details at brjff.com.
Cinema on the Bayou: January 22–29
Louisiana’s second oldest annual international juried film festival will return for its eight-day event—held in venues across Lafayette, which in the past have included Cité des Arts, Vermilionville Performance Center, and the Acadiana Center for the Arts. Dedicated to presenting almost two hundred films running the gamut from narrative to documentary to animation, the festival also dedicates special space to celebrating projects by filmmakers from across the Francophone world. More details to come about the 2025 festival at cinemaonthebayou.com.
Clarksdale Film and Music Festival: January 24–26
In the city called “Ground Zero” of Delta Blues country, a smart and celebratory curation of blues documentaries and Mississippi-centric films returns for the fourteenth year, to be cast upon the screen at the headquarters of Shared Experiences USA. Keep an eye and an ear out for a who's who of Delta blues talents, many of whom will be taking the stage at local juke joints for shows scheduled around the festival screenings. More details to come about the 2025 festival at clarksdalefilmfestival.com.
The Magnolia Independent Film Festival: February 20–22
Mississippi's first, and longest running, film festival, begun under the wing of the poet, journalist, and filmmaker Ron Tibett, has built an esteemed legacy of bringing high quality independent and lesser-known cinema to viewers in the Golden Triangle Area. A favorite of amateur and professional filmmakers, this intimate, hospitality-forward event in Starkville is oriented towards creatives, with a mission to inspire and to foster the state’s vibrant film industry. Details to come at magnoliafilmfest.com.
Oxford Film Festival: February 27–March 2
Called “OxFilm” by regular attendees, this celebration of independent cinema aims to cultivate audience appreciation of film while also encouraging filmmaking in North Mississippi. With a reputation for hospitality and creativity, the festival has been named by MovieMaker Magazine one of its “Top 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee” for several years. Visitors can expect over one hundred quality films from all over the globe, plus a thrilling slate of parties, and an extensive offering of filmmaking panels and workshops put on by successful folks in the industry on subjects ranging from set dressing to distribution to stunt acting. More details to come about the 2025 festival at ox-film.com.
New Orleans French Film Festival: February or March 2025
Hosted by the New Orleans Film Society, this festival is one of the longest-running foreign language festivals in the United States, and annually brings together diverse expressions of experiences across the Francophone world to New Orleans. In recent years, the festival—presented virtually and in person at New Orleans’s historic Prytania Theatres—has been the site of some of the first films presented in the Louisiana Creole language Kouri-Vini. Dates and details about the 2025 French Film Festival to be announced at neworleansfilmsociety.org/french-film-festival.
Cane River Film Festival: March 22
Produced by Resurrection Fern Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving Cane River Creole heritage, the annual Cane River Film Festival showcases the work of independent and student filmmakers, with an emphasis on Louisiana stories. More details to come about the 2025 festival at caneriverfilmfestival.com.
Patois Film Festival: April 2–6
For over twenty years now, New Orleans activists have linked up with New Orleans artists to present an annual film festival focused on stories about international human rights issues, while nurturing the local human rights community by supporting local organizations and organizers. In recent years, this spring festival has screened films on topics of climate justice, racism and corporate power at Disney World, and Angola prison. Dates and further details about the 2025 Patois Film Festival to be announced at patoisfilmfest.org.
The Overlook Film Festival: April 3–6
New Orleans’s annual Overlook Film Festival conjures art and artists inspired by the city’s darker tendencies, presenting a showcase of new films in independent horror cinema, interspersed with interactive and live theatre shows across the city. Dubbed a “summer camp for horror genre fans”—Overlook has been named by MovieMaker Magazine as one of the Best Genre Festivals in the world each year since its inception, “one of the world’s best festivals” by FANGORIA, and “America’s most exciting new genre fest” by IndieWIRE. Held at New Orleans’ historic Prytania Theatres, Overlook Film Festival’s 2025 schedule will be released in the spring at overlookfilmfest.com.
Black Film Festival of New Orleans: July 10–27 2025
Designed to foster and advance New Orleans’s vibrant community of Black creators, this free film festival showcases the city as a hotspot for filmmaking and film appreciation, offering virtual and in-person screenings of over fifty films, plus performances of poetry, comedy, and live music in some of the city’s most iconic venues. Visiting and local filmmakers can also take advantage of workshops and guest panels, which in the past have presented subjects such as special effects makeup, and “Producing and Budgeting for Narrative Film.” Further details about the 2024 BFFNO to be announced at bffno.com.
Baton Rouge Irish Film Festival: Summer 2025
Every year, in the late summer, the Baton Rouge Irish Club gets together for a wee weekend of bingeing the best in recent Irish cinema. Usually kicking off with a good old pub night at Phil Brady’s, the weekend includes screenings of a variety of genres—from documentaries to feature films to shorts—celebrating this distinct heritage as expressed in film. Dates and further details about the 2025 Irish Film Fest to be announced at batonrougeirishfilmfestival.com.
OUTnorthLa Film Festival: Fall 2025
Since 2009, organizers at the organization People Acting for Change and Equality (PACE) have hosted this film festival as a platform to celebrate the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community in the film industry and to our culture as a whole. Selected films raise awareness of concerns within the queer community, foster positive change, explore the history and experience of queer people in film, and push back against stereotypes through meaningful and diverse portrayals of LGBTQ+ in film. In recent years, the festival has been held in the fall at the Robinson Film Center in Shreveport. Dates and details about the 2025 OUTnorthLa Film Festival to be announced at outnorthla.org.
Lake Charles Film Festival: Fall 2025
This annual event hosted by Louisiana Film & Video Art, Inc. brings dozens of the best of independent films to Calcasieu Parish, as well as filmmaking and music workshops designed to foster local creative talent. The festival is typically held in the fall in Lake Charles. Dates and details about the 2025 festival will be announced at lakecharlesfilmfestival.com.
Louisiana Film Prize: Fall 2025
At Shreveport’s annual Prize Fest, creatives from film, food, music, fashion, and comedy disciplines compete for over $100,000 in cash and prizes. The film competition offers half of that award to one of around twenty filmmakers presenting short films to an audience, who will vote for the best of them. Split between two venues, the screenings are presented in two 2-hour slates. Viewers must see every film to vote. In addition to the competition are events like a red carpet extravaganza where you can meet filmmakers, an afterparty, a series of industry panels, and more. In recent years, Prize Fest has been held in the fall. Dates and details about the 2025 Prize Fest to be announced at prizefest.com.
Screamfest NOLA: Fall 2025
A New Orleans spin-off of Los Angeles’s “Sundance of Horror,” this event is dedicated to premiering the newest and highest quality horror projects from American and international independent creators. Usually held around the same time as the city’s Halloween celebrations, select filmmakers from the festival also take part in the annual Krewe of Boo Parade. Dates and details about the 2025 Screamfest NOLA to be announced at screamfestla.com/screamfest-nola.
