Break out the candles! The venerable Melbourne Underground Film Festival becomes a full-fledged teenager when it celebrates its 16th annual edition on September 11-20 this year.

Last year saw a stripped down MUFF, focusing on local outre filmmakers and a fine selection of international weirdness — and they want more this year. The fest will also be returning to its new home, the Backlot Studios.

Sixteen years and counting, the Melbourne Underground Film Festival has shown a fierce commitment to under appreciated cinema and it’s awesome to see them still kicking it. If your film is kick ass, a little bit or a lot out there and faintly uncategorizable and possibly unloved wherever “decent” people like to congregate, then MUFF might be a good home for it.

See below for submission deadlines, entry fee information, submission links and guidelines.

Deadline & Entry Fees

Deadline via Festhome:
June 30
Entry Fees:
Feature Film: $40
Short Film: $2.50

Deadline via Film Festival Life:
June 30
Entry Fees:
Feature Film: $40

Deadlines via Withoutabox:

Early:
April 23
Submission Fee: $45 AUS
Discounted Fee: $35 AUS

Regular:
June 20
Submission Fee: $45 AUS
Discounted Fee: $40 AUS

Late:
July 1
Submission Fee: $50 AUS
Discounted Fee: $45 AUS

Extended:
July 7
Submission Fee: $55 AUS
Discounted Fee: $50 AUS

Guidelines

The Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF) is a cutting edge premiere showcase for Independent cinema in the Southern Hemisphere. It is known for its radical, adventurous and iconoclastic programming decisions and for its support for different voices in the Independent and Underground film and video practitioners worldwide. The festival focuses on both Australian and International cinema and is a vocal critic of the staid and failing Australian Film Industry.

MUFF awards cutting-edge films every year with the “MUFF AWARDS” that select winners both locally and Internationally from shorts and feature categories.

MUFF plays many shorts (about 80) in Mini MUFF every year and a lot of features in its MUFF Neu section. Overall we play about 100 new works each year, plus an exciting array of documentaries and curated retrospectives.

MUFF is an essential cutting edge forum for new cinema that will look beyond production values, and find the hidden talent within. MUFF has been the launching board and incubator for many talented filmmakers including the likes of James Wan, Scott Ryan, Jenna Fisher, Jim VanBebber, Bruce LaBruce, Peter Christopherson, Stuart Simpson, Shannon Young, Kel Dolen, Steven Kastrissios, Ivan Kavanagh, Mark Savage, Anna Brownfield, Patrick Hughes, Jeremey DeCeglie, Gregory Pakis and many, many others.