Cherry Reel Film Festival

The 2024 Cherry Reel Student Film Festival is Presented by ASUNM Southwest Film Center

"A film festival for student filmmakers, by student filmmakers.”

The Cherry Reel Film Festival has two goals:

To give talented creators a platform to proudly show their work.
To enhance the creative competitiveness and collaborative possibilities between student filmmakers in the Albuquerque, NM area.

The 2019 Cherry Reel Student Film Festival had over 60 student films submitted. Top films were screened at UNM in the SUB theater. Submission genres ranged from HORROR, SCI-FI, COMEDY, EXPERIMENTAL, DOCUMENTARY, ANIMATED SHORT, MUSIC VIDEO and many more! This year YOU can be part of Cherry Reel.

Last year (2023) we had participation from the NM Film Office, IATSE, & SAG. We brought industry professionals to network with UNM Students. This event included writers, actors, directors, producers and many more. We are aiming to bring these folks back to connect with you, view your work, and provide career advice.

Regardless if you're a first-time filmmaker looking to submit or a returning filmmaker looking to see how you stack up, Cherry Reel is a film festival for the students, by the students.

Submissions for the 2024 Cherry Reel Film Festival are now open (see below), and the Festival will take place in April!

Any inquiries or online submissions can be directed to swfc@unm.edu

Submit Your Film

Read the following information carefully and fill in the requested information. Please note that you will need to include a link to either a Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive for your film submission file.

Incomplete submission forms will not be considered.

Rules for Submission
● Submission deadline is March 24th by 11:59pm. No entry fee required.
● Films created from any year are accepted.
● Films submitted to other festivals will be accepted, as well as online exhibition.
● Submitting student(s) MUST be the writer, director, producer, or editor of the film. No other submitting positions will be accepted.
● Submitting students must be current students at the University of New Mexico.
● Total runtime may not exceed 15 minutes, including end credits.
● Films submitted online must be submitted in an appropriate media format (h.264 mp4s preferred, although final selections must provide a ProRes file.)
● All copyrighted material must have been cleared for exhibition.
● Films that have been created/submitted for school courses are accepted.