Company lists · Data refreshed September 2026
Top 25 Independent film festivals based in the United States
RevenueBase identified 655 independent film festivals headquartered in the United States as of September 2026 and tracks 7,532 professional contacts across them, including 1,296 with verified work emails. Los Angeles is the largest hub.
This list covers independent film festivals headquartered in the United States, matched on what each company actually does as described in its own words. Ranked by team size, largest first. Every row shows the company's own description, its RevenueBase Smart Search rating, and when it was last checked. Data refreshed September 20, 2026.
Published by RevenueBase, a B2B data infrastructure company. This list was built with RevenueBase Smart Search, the natural-language company search RevenueBase customers use to build their own targeted lists and unlock verified emails and direct dials at the companies on them. How these lists are built and judged.
The 25 largest independent film festivals based in the United States
Ranked by team size| # | Company | Contacts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,511 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “At Film Independent our mission is to champion creative independence in visual storytelling and support a community of artists who embody diversity, innovation and uniqueness of…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 2 | 157 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “In only nine years, NEON has garnered 57 Academy Award® nominations, winning Best Picture for Sean Baker’s Anora and Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 3 | 152 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “Celebrated as one of the leading lifestyle film festivals in the United States, the Newport Beach Film Festival brings to Orange County the best of classic and contemporary…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 4 | 120 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “Film at Lincoln Center (FLC) is a nonprofit organization that celebrates cinema as an essential art form and fosters a vibrant home for film culture to thrive.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 5 | 106 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “DOC NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, takes place annually in November; the 15th edition was held in person and online Nov 13 - December 1, 2024, showcasing over 250…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 6 | 105 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “Cinema/Chicago, the presenting organization of the Chicago International Film Festival, is a year-round cultural and educational non-profit organization dedicated to fostering…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 7 | 104 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Founded in 1985 by filmmaker Richard Linklater, AFS creates life-changing opportunities for filmmakers, catalyzes Austin and Texas as a creative hub, and brings the community…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 8 | 92 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “SIFF is a Seattle-based 501(c)(3) arts nonprofit dedicated to the creation of vibrant experiences and spaces that champion film discovery and arts education.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 9 | 82 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “Presenter of the San Francisco International Film Festival, SFFILM is a year-round nonprofit organization delivering screenings and events to more than film lovers and media…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 10 | 77 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “The American Cinematheque is a non-profit organization whose mission is to celebrate the experience of cinema as a moving art form.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 11 | 74 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “SBIFF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and education organization dedicated to making a positive impact utilizing the power of film.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 12 | 67 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “The California Film Institute (CAFILM) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating and promoting film, as art and education, with a diverse series of annual…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 13 | 66 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “The festival was founded in 1995 by Dan Mirvish, Jon Fitzgerald, Shane Kuhn and Peter Baxter and has since become a year-round organization championing emerging filmmaking talent…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 14 | 65 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “At Rooftop Films, we believe that film is powerful, not only as a creative medium, but as a vehicle for engaging in valuable dialogue with one another about the issues facing our…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 15 | 64 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “Big Apple Film Festival takes place in the heart of the greatest city in the world.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 16 | 54 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “Our 13th Annual Montclair Film Festival will be held October 18-27!” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 17 | 53 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “Founded in the Woodstock Film Festival is a not-for-profit, 501c (3) organization whose mission is to present an annual program and year-round schedule of film, music and…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 18 | 52 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “Palm Springs International Film Society strives for a world in which enlightenment, knowledge and tolerance prevail.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 19 | 50 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “Denver Film's mission is to develop opportunities for diverse audiences to discover film through creative, thought-provoking experiences.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 20 | 50 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “The San Diego Film Foundation is dedicated to providing new perspective through the experience of film.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 21 | 45 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “Founded in 1995, IndieWire is the premier outlet for news, features, reviews, and information about independent film and media.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 22 | 45 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Since 1988, NewFest has been providing a platform for LGBTQIA+ filmmakers to share their work, bringing the queer community together to celebrate its stories.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 23 | 42 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “Founded by Milos Stehlik in 1975, FACETS is a nonprofit that connects people to independent ideas through transformative film experiences.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 24 | 40 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “Mountainfilm uses the power of film, art and ideas to inspire audiences to create a better world.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 25 | 40 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “The Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) promotes artistically and culturally significant film arts through education and exhibition to enrich the life of the community.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
RevenueBase Smart Search
RevenueBase Smart Search assesses information from a company’s LinkedIn profile, information supplied directly by the company, its website, and other publicly available sources. It uses that information to rate how closely the company relates to this list’s category: independent film festivals. Every row carries its rating and the description the rating was read from, so each one can be checked rather than taken on trust.
- Strong evidence
- The company's own public description of its business names independent film festivals.
- Partial evidence
- Its own public description names part of independent film festivals, so it works in or next to the category without describing itself that way.
- Indirect evidence
- The description shown does not name independent film festivals. The match rests on the rest of the company's public profile rather than the one sentence quoted here, so this is the rating to check first.
RevenueBase Smart Search is how these lists are built: RevenueBase's data engine and AI assemble the companies that match a category defined in a user's own words, so a list can be about what companies actually do rather than about whichever industry code they were filed under.
Showing 25 of 655 independent film festivals based in the United States
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Independent film festivals based in the United States at a glance
As of Sep 20, 2026Companies by employee count
Email recency for this list is measured worldwide rather than for United States, so it is reported there. Company counts and contact totals on this page are exact for United States, over 655 companies.
How this list was built
Company categories are rarely black and white. RevenueBase reads each company's own description of its business to decide whether it belongs among independent film festivals, so some rows will be adjacent to the category rather than pure plays. The description and RevenueBase Smart Search rating on every row are there so you can check each match yourself.
- Source
- The RevenueBase company graph: 60 million companies and 398.9 million professional contacts resolved from primary sources, queried with RevenueBase Smart Search, the natural-language company search available to every RevenueBase user.
- What qualifies
- Companies headquartered in the United States whose own description of what they do matches “independent film festivals”. Matching reads each company's description, not its industry code or its name.
- RevenueBase Smart Search
- RevenueBase Smart Search is how this list is assembled and how each row is rated. RevenueBase's data engine and AI assess a company's LinkedIn profile, information supplied directly by the company, its website and other publicly available information, then relate it to a category defined in a user's own words. Each row is rated strong evidence (its own description names independent film festivals), partial evidence (it names part of the category) or indirect evidence (the description shown names none of it and the match rests on the rest of the company's profile). The description supporting each rating is quoted on the row.
- What we exclude
- Companies whose own description does not clearly place them among independent film festivals, and records with no verified work email. Companies headquartered outside United States are excluded even when they keep an office there.
- Match quality
- In blind human judging of this matching method, 86% of matched companies were on target. Expect roughly 1 in 7 rows to be adjacent to the category rather than a pure play. Every row shows the company's own description and its RevenueBase Smart Search rating so you can judge each match yourself. Read the full methodology: how the lists are built, how the judging worked, and what the figure means.
- Ranking
- Team size, largest first: companies are ordered by the number of professionals RevenueBase tracks at each one. Employee ranges shown are reported bands, for context.
- Verification
- Every listed company carries at least one verified work email, 1,296 across the full list. Contacts re-verify on a rolling cadence, and each contact's own verification date is shown inside RevenueBase.
- Refresh
- This page's figures were pulled from the company graph on September 20, 2026. Lists refresh periodically as the graph is re-checked.
- Corrections
- Wrong category, wrong headquarters, or a company that has closed? Use “Report an issue” on any row. Reports go to the RevenueBase Data Team and feed back into the company graph.
Independent film festivals by metro
- Independent film festivals in Los Angeles73
- Independent film festivals in New York64
Frequently asked
What is RevenueBase Smart Search?
RevenueBase Smart Search is how RevenueBase decides which companies belong on this list and how strongly each one fits. Its data engine and AI assess a company's LinkedIn profile, information supplied directly by the company, its website and other publicly available information, then relate it to the category the list is about. Each row is rated strong evidence when the company's own description names independent film festivals, partial evidence when it names part of the category, and indirect evidence when the description shown names none of it and the match rests on the rest of the company's profile.
How many independent film festivals are there based in the United States?
RevenueBase identified 655 independent film festivals headquartered in the United States as of September 2026, matched on each company's own description of what it does rather than its industry code.
What is the largest company on this list?
Film Independent, headquartered in Los Angeles, tops this list with the largest team on record.
Which city has the most independent film festivals?
Los Angeles leads with 73 headquartered companies, followed by New York (64) and Chicago (17).
How do I get contact information for these companies?
A free RevenueBase account lets you run this exact search and work the top results, verified emails and direct dials included. Upgrading unlocks all 1,296 verified decision-maker contacts tracked across these 655 companies.
How current is this list?
The list refreshes periodically as the company graph is re-checked. This page's figures were pulled on September 20, 2026.
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About this data
RevenueBase is a B2B data infrastructure company. Its company graph covers 60 million companies and 398.9 million professional contacts, with emails verified on a rolling cadence rather than scraped once and left to decay. These company lists are generated directly from that graph with RevenueBase Smart Search, the same natural-language company search every RevenueBase user has: describe a market in plain words, get the companies that match, and add verified emails and direct dials for the people at them. It is the same data that powers RevenueBase's B2B data products, and a free account includes 500 credits to start. How these lists are built and judged.
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