The ATA Film and Video Festival is once again looking for some great experimental short films for their fourth annual edition that will run in October in San Francisco at the famed Artists Television Access space. This is one of the premiere short film festivals in North America, showing a terrific variety of avant-garde work from around the globe. Yeah, you know, “experimental,” “avant-garde,” “underground” — whatever you want to call it, festival co-curators Isabel Fondevila and Shae Green somehow manage to find the best of the best.

And I say that from semi-experience. While I’ve never been to the actual festival, Fondevila has been generous enough the past two years to send me screeners of all the films selected and both times I’ve been completely blown away. Click the following years to read my reviews, 2007 and 2008, as well as to get a good idea of what it is they’re looking for if you’re thinking about submitting.

As for the details regarding submissions: Send in any film that’s under 20 minutes long and in either video, Super 8 or 16 mm format. They’re also looking for films that are either documentary, narrative, animation, abstract, found footage or any combination thereof. The one and only deadline is:

Final Deadline:
May 29
Entry fee: $10

Plus, the fest’s mission statement says:

The ATA Film and Video Festival is committed to showcasing films and videos that use an unconventional stylistic and technical approach and bring up subjects or concepts that not only entertain, but also provoke, our diverse audience. The festival also includes installations in ATA’s Mission District storefront gallery, a lunch for the filmmakers, and new in our 4th year, a discussion forum for the exchange of ideas amongst filmmakers, curators and audiences.

And lastly, if you want to check out how much fun the festival is, below are a few select photographs from last year’s edition. (Click each photo to embiggen.) As always, please visit the official ATA Film and Video Festival for more info.

And check out the Underground Film Journal’s list of film festivals for more great underground fests to submit to.