The Coney Island Film Festival is collecting films for its 27th edition, which runs Friday, April 30, through Sunday, May 2, 2027, in the Coney Island USA building at 1208 Surf Avenue. The regular entry window closed Oct. 23, but two more are open: the late deadline is Friday, Dec. 18, and the final deadline is Friday, Feb. 12, 2027.

The festival is organized by Coney Island USA, the arts nonprofit behind Sideshows by the Seashore, the Coney Island Museum and the Mermaid Parade. It screens in two rooms of that building: the sideshow theater on the ground floor and the museum on the second floor, a short walk from the Boardwalk and the Parachute Jump.

What it takes to enter

Any genre, subject or format is accepted. The categories are drama short, comedy short, feature, documentary feature, documentary short, horror, sci-fi, music video, experimental and animation. A short is anything under 40 minutes, and a feature is 40 minutes or longer. Films in a language other than English need English subtitles or dubbing.

Fees go up with each window. An entry costs $40 through the Dec. 18 late deadline and $45 through the Feb. 12 final deadline. The festival says the date of a submission has no bearing on whether it is chosen, and that it does not invite films: everything on the program comes through the open call. Entries are taken on FilmFreeway, and the festival plans to announce its selections on or around March 12, 2027. Screening copies are .mp4 files (H.264, 1080p, stereo), and the festival does not pay rental fees.

An award for films made on the peninsula

Alongside the genre awards, the jury gives a Made in Coney Island award. At the 2026 festival in May, that award went to The Longest Friday of the Year, Again, a documentary feature that also opened the festival with a sold-out screening in the museum on Friday night.

The rest of the 2026 winners show the range of what plays here: Edward took animation, Crowded Out comedy short, Girl | Dad drama short, The Pink Velvet Witch documentary feature, Being Bublé documentary short, Food For Thought experimental, The Pitchfork Retreat feature, dont.4get2smile horror, Human Resource sci-fi, and Donny McCaslin's PONY UP music video.

What a festival weekend looks like

The 2026 edition gives a sense of the format. After an opening night screening on Friday, the festival ran back-to-back programs on Saturday and Sunday, alternating between the museum and the sideshow theater, with blocks of documentary shorts, comedy shorts, sci-fi, horror, music videos and experimental work. Most programs cost $10, and an opening night party followed the first screening in the sideshow space. The 2026 festival thanked Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, Luna Park NYC and Eldorado Auto Skooter among its sponsors.

For audiences

The 2027 schedule will be posted once selections are made in March. Coney Island USA is at 1208 Surf Avenue, a short walk from the D, F, N and Q trains at Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue. The museum's second floor is not wheelchair accessible, which the festival notes on its schedule.

How to enter

Read the guidelines and submit through the festival's FilmFreeway page before Dec. 18 for the $40 fee, or before Feb. 12, 2027, for $45. Questions go to the festival by email from its website, which says it answers within 24 hours.

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