South Texas International Film Festival 2025

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!

The City of Edinburg invites you to submit and attend the 11th South Texas International Film Festival to be held from September 10 through 13, 2025. Our Festival is geared towards new and experienced filmmakers and filmgoers alike by offering a variety of events including screenings, workshops, panels, mixers, and of course our iconic Awards Ceremony.

Any questions, please email stxiff@cityofedinburg.com or contact us through FilmFreeway.

Dates & Deadlines

1. The 11th edition of the South Texas International Film Festival (STXIFF) will be held from September 10 through 13, 2025 in Edinburg, Texas.

2. Call for entries for the 11th STXIFF opens November 15, 2024. Final submissions close at 11:59 PM on May 10, 2025. Deadlines will have four different dates:

Early Bird Entry:  November 15 - December 15

Regular Entry: December 16 - March 31

Late Entry: April 1 – May 10

3. The Official Selections will be announced on June 20, 2025 via email to filmmakers and through the STXIFF social media platforms

General Submission Guidelines

1.     Film submissions will be admitted only through FilmFreeway. https://filmfreeway.com/STXIFF

2.     Submit your film only when your film is in the most complete and finished form possible.

3.     Submissions must be in English or have English subtitles at the time submitted.

4.     Submissions will be considered incomplete if the following are not included in the initial FilmFreeway submission: Film, Poster, and Synopsis. 

5.     The submitter is responsible for ensuring that their screener link and password are active throughout the entire submission cycle. In the event of a password or URL change after submitting, email stxiff@cityofedinburg.com immediately.

6.     Feature films must be between forty (40) minutes and one-hundred and twenty (120) minutes in length, including credits. Short films must be under 40 minutes including credits. Music Videos must be between two (2) minutes and five (5) minutes.

7.     All films will be eligible for a possible showcase, but to be eligible for competition and thus an award, the film:

a)    Must have been completed after January 1, 2022.

b)    Must have the rights to all songs and other copyright material.

c)     Must not be publicly available online or physically for purchase or renting. The film may be online but private (i.e., password or private link). Music Videos and Young Filmmakers are exempt from this guideline (7c).

8.     The minimum requirement for selected films is H.264 codec, 1920x1080, mp4.

9.     If selected, you must submit the following by July 8, 2025 by 11:59 PM:

a)    link to a downloadable film projection file with closed captions if available

b)    High Resolution (300 DPI) film poster – posters will be printed and displayed 18x24, vertical

c)     Short, film synopsis - max of 40 words for printed program; optional longer synopsis for the film’s webpage

d)    Press picture of director(s) (HD) for the film’s webpage

e)    Director(s) biography for the film’s webpage

f)      Film trailer or teaser and/or three (3) to five (5) film stills for the film’s webpage

10.  A Jury of industry professionals will determine the winners of each category. The decisions will be final and unappealable and will be announced during the Award Ceremony.

11.  Staff of the STXIFF and STXIFF Planning Committee members may not participate in any of the films which compete for an award. This includes but is not limited to actress, actor, director, writer, producer, or any other member of the production team of the film. If the producer and/or director wishes to appeal a crew member’s conflict of interest, they may do so by contacting the STXIFF staff before submitting a film. The STXIFF will review the appeal and give a response within 15 days of informing the STXIFF Staff. Deadline dates may be affected by your appeal; we recommend informing STXIFF Staff one (1) month prior to a deadline.

12.  By submitting your film, you grant permission to STXIFF to use your film trailer, stills, press picture, synopsis, bio, up to thirty (30) seconds of your film, and all other submitted information for Festival promotion without limitation and at its sole and complete discretion in perpetuity for the production and promotion of the South Texas International Film Festival.

13.  The South Texas International Film Festival takes all necessary precautions to prevent copy and intellectual rights from being stolen, however, the film submitter takes all responsibility for any loss and stolen property by submitting to STXIFF and will to the maximum extent allowed by law agree to indemnify and hold harmless and defend the City of Edinburg, the South Texas International Film Festival, its agents, employees, officers, and volunteers from and against any claim, loss, damage, liability, and expense including reasonable attorney’s fees, incurred or suffered by them by reason of all claims, demands, or causes of actions asserted or that may be asserted against any or all of the named parties, whether alleging intentional or negligent acts or omissions, and whether seeking compensatory or punitive damages, and involving, arising out of, or relating to the submission agreement and any other claims against any staff or agent of the South Texas International Film Festival and the City of Edinburg.

14.  By submitting your film, you are allowing STXIFF to screen/stream your film during the event dates. If you decide to remove your film from screening, you must notify STXIFF staff at least two months prior to the event date. Your film will not be eligible for a prize if it does not screen during the event.

15.  Any other situation not considered in these submission guidelines will be reviewed by the South Texas International Film Festival.

16.  We recommend you carefully review these guidelines and please email stxiff@cityofedinburg.com if you have any additional questions.

17.  DISCLAIMER: In an effort to ensure fairness and transparency within our regional film competition, we invite professional filmmakers from outside the Rio Grande Valley as part of the programming team to view and select the films in our RGV competition. This process provides an equal platform for all local filmmakers in the RGV. 

Categories

Each film may only participate in one category.

The competition categories for the 11th edition of the STXIFF are as follows:

  • RGV Short Film

A RGV film is a narrative, or animated film that was predominantly produced and shot in the Rio Grande Valley (i.e., Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, Willacy, and Zapata Counties). Include your City, State and postal zip code in the Submitter Information for your project on FilmFreeway. If your address is not in the RGV, and your film was predominately shot in the RGV, please email stxiff@cityofedinburg.com.    

  • Texas Short Film

A Texas film is a narrative or animated film that was predominantly produced and shot in the state of Texas. Must include Texas as State in the Submitter Information for your project on FilmFreeway. If your address is not in Texas and your film was produced and shot in Texas, please email stxiff@cityofedinburg.com.  

  • U.S. Short Film

A U.S.  film is a narrative film that was predominantly produced in the United States.

  • U.S. Feature Film

A U.S. film is a narrative film that was predominantly produced in the United States.

  • International Short Film

An International film is a narrative film that was produced anywhere in the world except the United States.

  • International Feature Film

An International film is a narrative film that was produced anywhere in the world except the United States.

  • Documentary Feature Film

A Documentary Film is a nonfiction film about real events and people that was produced in any part of the world.

  • Documentary Short Film

A Documentary Short Film is a nonfiction film about real events and people that was produced in any part of the world.

  • Music Video

The music video should be the official music video for that song by that artist, that is, the artist and/or label commissioned the video and have approved the creation. Music Videos may be produced in any part of the world.  

  • Texas Young Filmmaker Short Film

A Texas Young Filmmaker Short Film may be an animation, documentary, narrative or Music Video under 30 minutes in length.   Texas Young Filmmakers submissions are predominantly produced in the State of Texas, by Texas secondary education students (high school, middle school and junior high). Filmmaker must have been a secondary student during the time of production. Graduating high school before the start of the festival does not disqualify any filmmaker.  Include Texas as State in the in the Submitter Information (2) and in Specifications (4) Student Project for your project on FilmFreeway.  If selected, the STXIFF may ask the student filmmakers for a school ID.  If the FilmFreeway account is in a school or teacher’s name, Include the students' name/s in the credits section (3).

 

  • The Pitch Awards

Screenwriters pitch their idea or concept for a film, feature or short.   

The complete guidelines for The Pitch are available on the STXIFF website https://stxiff.com/the-pitch .    To compete in The Pitch, screenwriters must submit a title, logline, 200–300-word synopsis, main characters and concept art through FilmFreeway by the submission deadline.  Participants may submit a script; however, a script is not required. Pitch Finalists compete in Edinburg, Texas on the Saturday of STXIFF. Finalists must be present on the day of the event in order to qualify for a prize.

Two divisions

  • The Pitch

  • Pitch-Texas Young Filmmaker

Texas secondary education students only (high school, middle school and junior high).

Awards & Prizes

These are the prizes that may be awarded at the 11th STXIFF:

  • Best International Feature Film

  • Best U.S. Feature Film

  • Best Documentary Feature Film

  • Best International Short Film

  • Best U.S. Short Film

  • Best Texas Short Film

  • Best RGV Short Film

  • Best Documentary Short Film

  • Best Music Video

  • Best Texas Young Filmmaker Short Film

  • The Pitch Award

  • TX Young Filmmakers Pitch Award

  • South Texas Awards

    To qualify for South Texas Regional Awards, films must be and shot in South Texas with a South Texas crew and cast.

  • Edinburg Film Friendly Award

    Must be filmed in Edinburg, TX. In your cover letter, please include if you filmed in Edinburg (include locations).

 We reserve the right to not give an award or announce a winner in one or more categories