Most film festivals take place in a movie theater, which is natural, right? But, for the second year in a row, the Black Rock City Film Festival is bringing the underground film watching experience back to real nature. In the desert, in fact, when it takes place this summer at the annual Burning Man arts festival.

The festival will take place on Aug. 30 — Sep. 2 at the makeshift art-themed tent city in Black Rock, Nevada. This year’s event, though, offers something a little bit special as all movies will be screened using the innovative Engine Theater portable projection experience, a 1,000 lbs. kinetic light and steel structure. (On a personal note, I’ve seen it in action and it’s pretty neat!)

Presented by the fine folks at the Boston Underground Film Festival, the Black Rock City Film Festival will take place at night in the desert that begins with a Tuesday night Red Carpet Opening Night Gala and a Friday night closing Wrap Party. And, every night will feature a pre-screening Cocktail Hour.

This is your chance to get your short film to screen at one of the more innovative film festivals out there at the biggest art party on the planet. Unfortunately, the early deadline has passed as of this posting, but there are several more upcoming deadlines to get your film in:

Regular deadline
June 18
$35
(WAB $30)

Late deadlline
July 15
$40
(WAB $35)

WAB Extended
July 31
$55
(WAB $40)

If you’re interested in submitting, please visit the official Black Rock City Film Festival website. Also, the festival has a Kickstarter campaign running to raise funds for hosting the Engine Theater. Click to donate!

Some other festivals of note currently open for entries:

Festival du nouveau cinéma: FNC Lab

Within Montreal’s massive Festival du nouveau cinéma, there exists the FNC Lab, their section devoted to experimental, avant-garde and underground film. The festival describes this part of their event as such:

Wide-ranging works of experimentation at the crossroads of cinema, visual arts and new technology. A laboratory that pushes beyond traditional narrative and aesthetic forms in a program spanning films, installations, performances and transmedia projects.

The festival will run Oct. 12-23 and while they list only one deadline, they really have two based on their fee structure. Both are coming up very quick, though:

Early Deadline
June 15
$35

Late Deadline
June 30
$40

Please visit the Festival du nouveau cinema’s submission page to submit.

POW Fest

The Portland Oregon Women’s Film Festival is, of course, once again looking for films by women filmmakers. This is an indie film fest, not an underground one, so it’s pretty open to all kinds of movies from the female perspective. The fest runs Oct. 8-11 and their deadlines are:

Early Bird Deadline
June 24
$20

Regular Deadline
August 12
$30

Late Deadline
September 9
$35

WAB Extended Deadline
October 7
$45

Please visit the POW Fest official site to submit.