Any film festival at its most crazy, hectic moments can feel like a real sideshow sometimes, complete with barkers — i.e. the filmmakers — enticing audiences into a dark room to witness their wondrous visions.

However, the Coney Island Film Festival, which is heading into its 10th year, is the only fest that is literally a sideshow, being held in the historic Sideshows by the Seashore at the greatest beach resort in the world, in my humble opinion anyway. The fest will run this year Sept. 24-26.

CIFF always shows a fun and terrific lineup of wild films every year. Here’s last year’s batch. They also accept films in every category: Feature, Short, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short, Experimental, Silent Film, Horror, Animation, Music Video.

The early bird deadline is coming up in February, but here are all the deadlines (postmarked):

Early Bird Deadline:
Feb. 25
$25

Regular Deadline:
April 23
$25

Late Deadline:
June 25
$30

Extended Late Deadline:
July 2
$45

You can submit either via the Coney Island  Film Festival official site or through Withoutabox.