2025 Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival

Name: 2025 Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival
Start: 2025-04-04T12:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-04-04T22:30:00-05:00
Location: Collins Road Theatres

Schedule

Fri Apr 04 2025 at 12:00 pm to 10:30 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Collins Road Theatres | Marion, IA

CRIFF celebrates the fact that people with ties to Iowa are in the production industry EVERYWHERE. We search for films from anywhere and by anyone, who just happen to have an Iowa connection.
That could be a crew or cast member who lived, worked or went to school in Iowa; a film that was produced, at least in part, in Iowa; or a story featuring an Iowa subject or Iowan (present or former, real or fictional).
We’ve had films submitted from all across the US, and around the world! We tell skeptical filmmakers that if you don’t think your film qualifies, ask around…you just might have an Iowan on set!
Every entrant is welcome to free admission, and has the opportunity to schedule a personal Conversation With the Judges, on Sunday, April 6. This rare opportunity for one-on-one feedback has long been a hallmark of the Festival, and is regarded by many filmmakers as the most valuable perk of entry.
In addition to being screened twice for our enthusiastic audience, Official Selections are honored with a commemorative shirt with your name on the back, your entry featured on promotional statewide media, additional complimentary passes, and advancement into the Saturday night Eddy Awards competition. Gold and Silver Eddy Awards are presented in Professional, Hobbyist and Student categories for Features, Shorts, Documentaries, and “Freestyle” (experimental, music video, video art, etc.) films. We also award the Audience Choice Eddy and Student Audience Choice Eddy, voted on by audience members. The Iowa Connection Eddy is awarded to that film which best represents Iowa’s filmmaking community. It’s a film that tells the world WHO is making films in Iowa, WHY they’re doing it in this state, and WHAT Iowa stories are being told. Finally, the Collins Road Theatres Scholarship is awarded to a student filmmaker to further the recipient’s filmmaking education.
New event elements were added in 2024 to further enhance the filmmaker and audience experiences. These included new food and refreshment options in the Filmmaker VIP Lounge, in-depth interviews on the Mediaverse Studios Podcast, discussion forums, and more. We expanded the screening schedule by starting earlier on Friday, and lengthened Student Cinema Sunday, where all selected student films were shown, with a discounted student admission.