About
Film Fest & Podcast
Florida Surf Film Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, public charity, invigorating surf culture and artistic appreciation by exhibiting contemporary documentary films with surfing as a focus and preserving narrative from artists far and wide while also producing a story-driven podcast, literary group discussions, and artistic workshops. Florida Surf Film Festival, established in December of 2012, is held at Daytona State College's News-Journal Center after 11 years at Atlantic Center for the Arts (April 2013 – June 2024). We are always open for submissions. Florida Surf Film Festival, Inc. is a Florida non-profit corporation.
Typically, films are selected by reaching out to upcoming projects that fit the mission of the festival, but also from a pool of applicants from FilmFreeway. All dates, terms, and conditions can be found at the FilmFreeway site. Once films are selected, they are screened during one of three to four quarterly screenings during the festival year beginning in February.
During October, the juries will view the official selections for the festival and vote on their top three for each of the following categories with 6 points awarded first, 3 to second, and 1 to third. All scores are added together to choose a winner. Both short and feature length films will be considered for the following recognition:
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Best Documentary Film – Feature
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Best Surf Movie – Feature
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Best Documentary Film – Short
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Best Surf Movie – Short
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Best Cinematography – Feature
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Best Soundtrack – Feature
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Best Cinematography – Short
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Best Soundtrack – Short
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Viewers’ Choice Award – Feature
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Viewers’ Choice Award – Short
Awards are announced at the culmination of the year’s festival main two-night event in Daytona Beach at the News-Journal Center.
Submit your work here.
Surf Stories Podcast
We also produce a bi-monthly podcast called Surf Stories. John and Kevin began recording during COVID in 2020 to keep the sponsors happy during the year-long hiatus from live events, and it's been a fantastic addition in the This American Life meets Smartless-style of conversational narratives. You can find it wherever you listen to podcasts.
Filmmaker Isaac Halasima and Kelly Slater, 2021 Photo: Patrick Ruddy