A CELEBRATION OF ART
The City of Edinburg promotes the visual arts and the growing film industry in the Rio Grande Valley and hosts the South Texas International Film Festival.
The South Texas International Film Festival is an annual celebration of the art of cinema. STXIFF is a competitive film festival that showcases the work of visionary filmmakers from all over the world. Based in Edinburg, Texas, STXIFF showcases local, regional, national, and international films and prides itself as a welcoming hub for thriving and aspiring storytellers. We focus on personal engagement with filmmakers with a South Texas Hospitality flare!
STXIFF, a competitive international film festival, accepts films in the categories of RGV Film, Short Film, Feature Length Film, Documentary Film, Music Video, Animated Film and Student Film. This multi-day festival is open to the public and features film screenings, workshops and a screenplay pitch competition. Interested in participating? Submit your film or sign up for our email newsletter to get updates on the festival schedule.
2025 STXIFF COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Talent Acquisition Chair: Lonnie Guerrero
Workshop & Networking Chair: Carina Alcantara
Volunteer Chair: Kristin Palacios
International Engagement Chair: Virginia Haynie Gause
Advocate: Eric Luebanos
Festival Director: Letty Leija
Director of Operations: Magdiel Castle
STXIFF Logistics Supervisor: Ernie Guevara
STXIFF Committee Chair: Janie Martinez
Programming Chair: Susan Smith
Are you interested in applying for a seat on the STXIFF Committee? Apply Here!
The STXIFF committee meets regularly every every three weeks on Monday evening
Nominations and Awards
Following the official selection of competing films, a small team of industry professional judges will screen every official selection from each category. The top-rated films from each category are nominated for awards. Technical and artistic award nominations are based on the combined ratings for their corresponding field. For instance, the best director award nominations will be based on the combined "Direction" rating and not the overall film rating. The official industry judges will decide on a winner in each award category, and their choice will be final. The list of award winners will be shared only with festival team members who require the information to produce the final awards ceremony graphics and physical awards.
Industry Judges
Are you an industry professional interested in becoming a STXIFF judge? Let us know here.
The Eddys
The Eddys are a coveted award reserved for the winning Feature Films in the following categories: Documentary Feature, U.S. Feature, and International Feature. Each year, the solid bronze awards are cast locally by Master Sculptor Douglas Clark and weigh in at about 10 lbs each.The Eddy Awards are named after the City of Edinburg, designed and originally cast by the Master Sculptor Magdiel Castle in 2015. Additional awards include engraved statuettes and cash prizes. Learn More about the the Awards Gala here.
Film Selection Process
Every year STXIFF receives hundreds of film submissions, in many categories, from all over the world. Our head programmer coordinates a team of industry professionals who screen each film through a secure screening website. Multiple programmers will rate the technical and artistic aspects of each submission during the screening process. Once all films are rated, the STXIFF head programmer will officially select as many films as possible based on that year's available screening time and the film's final rating.
PROGRAMMERS - José Alaniz, David Anshen, Linda Belau, Ed Cameron, Virginia Haynie Gause, Adam Gregory, Armando P. Ibáñez, Kayla Lanzalaco, Reuben Marin, Mara Lee Moats, Robert Moreira, Dustin Pruitt, Jamin Teran, Jeffrey Ward, Sofia Yousif
Are you interested in becoming a STXIFF programmer? Let us know here.
Submit Your Film & pitch
All submission are through our FilmFreeway page. We accept films in 10 categories and Pitches in 2 categories. Early bird submissions begin early November.
You can find out more about each category and read the guidelines on filmfreeway.com/stxiff