Lausanne Underground Film Festival

The Lausanne Underground Film Festival is an epic 5-day event in Switzerland of the most outrageous movies from all over the world. The 11th annual edition will run on Oct. 17-21 at the Swiss Film Archives and will feature tons of new films, as well as retrospectives of legendary underground filmmakers. Submitting a film, as per LUFF tradition, is free.

LUFF typically screens a cross-section of over-the-top gross-out flicks, trippy cult movies, experimental narratives, documentaries on fringe subjects, short experimental films and a ton more.

Last year, they screened films such as the unbelievably outrageous The Taint by Drew Bolduc and Dan Nelson, Calvin Lee Reeder‘s experimental The Oregonian, Adam Rehmeier‘s fantastically brutal The Bunny Game, Marie Losier‘s acclaimed portrait The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye and the Underground Film Journal’s 2011 Movie of the Year Profane by Usama Alshaibi, just to name a few. See the full lineup here.

As there is no entry fee, there is only one deadline:

Final Deadline
June 1
Entry Fee: Free!

To submit and for more information, please visit the official Lausanne Underground Film Festival website.

Portland Underground Film Festival

The Portland Underground Film Festival is also looking for a few great outrageous movies. No dates have been set yet, but the fest typically runs in June for about three nights. PUFF also only has one deadline, and a fairly small entry fee.

PUFF is usually an eclectic mix, programming extreme features, horror flicks, documentaries about quirky subjects and a block of short films. Last year, they also screened The Bunny Game, Troma’s Mr. Bricks: A Heavy Metal Musical by Travis Campbell, the erotic revenge flick Cherry Bomb by Kyle Day, and the twisted experimental narrative Felony Flats by perennial Underground Film Journal favorite Bob Moricz.

Final Deadline
April 30
Entry Fee: $10

To submit and for more information, please visit the official Portland Underground Film Festival website.

PollyGrind Film Festival

Held in Las Vegas, the PollyGrind Film Festival is an underground film festival appropriately devoted to movies about sin, debauchery, brutality and extreme behavior. No dates have been set yet, but it will run sometime in October.

It’s easy to tell what kinds of films PollyGrind is looking for based on their detailed submission categories, which include Blood-o-Rama, Weirdville, CrimeTime, Arthouse on the Left, Twisted Toons, Zombiepalooza, Frontiers Anew, Area-X, The Outcasts, Really Reel and more.

Plus, PollyGrind accepts not only the traditional short films and music videos, but also webisodes and trailers for both real and imaginary movies.

Last year, they screened Stuart Simpson‘s acclaimed monster flick El Monstro Del Mar!, Herschell Gordon Lewis‘s gory TV spoof The Uh-Oh Show, and Drew Bolduc and Dan Nelson‘s The Taint and Adam Rehmeier‘s The Bunny Game, and a ton more. See the full lineup here.

The deadlines and entry fees below are just the highlights, as PollyGrind also has discounts for students and an extended deadline for Withoutabox users.

Early Deadline
March 31
Entry Fees:
Feature: $45
Short: $25

Regular Deadline
June 13
Entry Fees:
Feature: $55
Short: $35

Late Deadline
July 13
Entry Fees:
Feature: $65
Short: $45

Final Deadline
July 30
Entry Fees:
Feature: $75
Short: $55

To submit and for more information, please visit the official Portland Underground Film Festival website.

San Francisco Underground Short Film Festival

Last, but not least, in our roundup is the latest edition of the San Francisco Short Film Festival, which will run on Sept. 15. However, unlike the festivals above, there are two important restrictions to submit:

1. Clearly, the fest only screens short films.
2. The filmmaker must live in the Bay Area.

If you and your film fit within those limitations, then this is a great local fest to submit to, especially all filmmakers have the opportunity to attend and see their work screened with an appreciative audience. Submission is free.

The fest was founded by S.F. superstar Peaches Christ, who makes this more of an explosive event than just a film screening, with lots of entertainment programmed during the night. You can see last year’s lineup here.

Final Deadline
Aug 1
Entry Fee: Free!

To submit and for more information, please visit the official San Francisco Underground Short Film Festival website.