The Lone Star Film Festival turns twenty this November in Fort Worth — and the window to be part of the anniversary edition closes this Friday. Submissions for the 20th annual festival are open until August 21, per the festival's own submissions page. Entries go through the festival's FilmFreeway listing.
Why This One's Worth the Scramble
Twenty years is a real run for a regional festival. The ones that last do it by mattering to the filmmakers around them, and Lone Star has spent two decades as the fall anchor of North Texas film. A slot in the anniversary edition is the kind of line that keeps working on a resume long after November.
What To Have Ready
A finished film or a festival-ready cut, a synopsis, stills, and an entry submitted before Friday. The festival's own site doesn't publish fees or category terms, so check its FilmFreeway listing for the fine print rather than trusting a rumor. And if the cut isn't ready, the harder question is whether it will be by November: festivals program the film you send, not the film you promise.
The festival runs this November in Fort Worth. We'll cover the program when it's announced.
Submit / terms: lonestarfilmfestival.com/submit
Deadline, edition, and festival dates verified against lonestarfilmfestival.com on August 16, 2026. Entry fees and category terms are not published on the festival's own site, and we don't print what we can't verify — the festival's FilmFreeway listing is where to confirm them.