General Information
The 2025 Sunscreen Film Festival will take place from Thursday, April 24th to Sunday, April 27th 2025.
The main festival venue is hosted by the AMC 12 Theatres at Sundial located at 151 2nd Ave. North, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701. Parties and other special events are held at various locations around the downtown area in St. Petersburg, Florida. Specific locations will be listed on our website closer to the main event.
Passes to the festival can be purchased in two ways: 1) through the Sunscreen Film Festival website (accessible by clicking “Buy Passes” in the site’s main menu, taking you to passes.html, or 2) through Sunscreen’s Eventive.org dashboard.
New to the 2025 festival season, Sunscreen has chosen Eventive.org as our provider to purchase passes, view the festival’s schedule, and other helpful festival-related services, allowing festival goers and filmmakers to better manage their Sunscreen experience. Note: a handful of screenings in 2024 were oversold, so to fix this problem for the 2025 Sunscreen Film Festival, all pass holders will be required to register for film screenings. Pass holders will receive a code with their pass to obtain a ticket to individual screenings.
Of course, individual tickets may still be purchased. You do not need a festival pass to obtain a ticket to a film screening.
To learn how to purchase festival passes through Eventive, visit here.
Yes, we offer early bird discounts, student discounts, and group rates. Please email the festival at info@sunscreenfilmfestival.com for specific details and deadlines.
Filmmaker Information
We accept submissions via FilmFreeway at https://filmfreeway.com/sunscreenfilmfestival. Please check our submissions page for deadlines, fees, and guidelines!
Submission deadlines vary. Please refer to the submissions page on Sunscreen's Film Freeway page for Early Bird, Regular, and Late Submission deadlines.
We accept a wide-range of genres, including narrative features, documentaries, short films, animation, and more. Please see our submission guidelines on Sunscreen's Film Freeway page at https://filmfreeway.com/sunscreenfilmfestival for a complete list of genre categories.
Films are selected by the festival programming team led by Doug Tschirhart, Programming Director, and Sunscreen's Co-Founder Tony Armer. A wide-variety of criteria, such as originality, storytelling, technical proficiency, and overall impact are key considerations.
A panel of industry experts views and selects the winning films from a list of nominees selected by the programming team. The jury then selects winners in the following categories:
- » Best Short Film
- » Best Florida Film (short or feature)
- » Best Comedy Feature
- » Best Documentary Feature
- » Best Documentary Short
- » Best Web Series Short
- » Best Narrative Feature Film
- » Best International Feature Film
- » Best International Short Film
- » Best Animated Short Film
- » Best High School Student Short Film
- » Best College Student Short Film
- » Best Director (Feature Film)
- » The Dale Pople Sci-Fi Film Award for best Sci-Fi Film
- » The Dave Barrett Cinematography Award
The members of the Jury will be announced closer to the festival's main event.
Yes we do have a Diversity Statement, which is as follows:
The Sunscreen Film Festival believes that diversity fuels the creativity of the film industry. We are dedicated to creating an inclusive environment where filmmakers from all backgrounds can share their unique stories.
Our festival embraces filmmakers of various races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, religions, abilities, and socio-economic backgrounds, reflecting the world's diversity. We strive to promote equal opportunities and support underrepresented voices, including women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and those with disabilities.
We ensure a fair selection process with a diverse panel of judges, evaluating films based solely on their artistic merit. We also provide networking, mentorship, and professional development opportunities for filmmakers from underrepresented communities and collaborate with like-minded organizations.
At the Sunscreen Film Festival, diversity is central to our programming and commitment to an inclusive film industry.
Information about Passes
Read this Google Deck for an overview on "How to Sunscreen!"
Passes are a great way to maximize your Sunscreen Film Festival experience. You can see more and get more! See description of passes here. Individual tickets are sold for most screenings during the festival.
Passes and tickets have QR codes and must be scanned for entrance into all events.
Individual tickets are NOT available to purchase for workshop/panels and events/parties. Those are limited exclusively to pass holders.
Read this Google Deck for an overview on "How to Sunscreen!"
1. To purchase your pass, you must create a FREE online account with Eventive (available at your online App Store).
2. Once purchased, your pass is connected to your Eventive account. Login to your account, find the show/event you would like to attend and “ORDER TICKETS.”
3. Ordering a ticket reserves your place for that event. You do not need to print anything when you have a pass.
4. Each pass allows up to 5 reservations per day. You can only reserve one ticket per event.
5. Arrive at least 15 minutes before show and use the “Reservations” line.
6. If you have a pass, but do NOT make a reservation (“ORDER TICKETS”) in advance, you can stand in the “RUSH Line” where seating is not guaranteed, but open to first come, first served.
7. If you can’t make your reserved screening, please CANCEL the ticket/reservation by going to your “My Tickets” page in the Eventive App, click MANAGE, and Cancel Tickets
Generally, passes may be obtained opening day of festival, or anytime thereafter, at the Box Office Check-in located at the AMC 12 Theatre at Sundial 151 2nd Avenue North, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701. The Box Office schedule will be announced closer to festival dates.
All festival passes are display the pass holder’s name, QR code and pass type.
Our Film Guide and Film Schedule will be announced on March 9, 2025.
Platinum pass holders have advance access on March 2, 2025, and can begin making reservations. Gold, Silver Screen, Film, and Filmmaker passholders have access to reservations on March 9, 2025. Just Login to your free Eventive account to reserve tickets to events as desired. Up to 5 reservations per event per day.**
All-Access and Cinephile Day passholders will have access beginning April 23, 2025. These passes allow you to book your event one day in advance. In order to book a screening on Thursday, April 24, you Login to your account and reserve beginning Wednesday. To reserve on Friday, Login and reserve beginning Thursday, and so on. Up to 5 reservations per event per day.**
**You cannot reserve multiple tickets for the same event on one pass.
If you have a reservation or individual ticket* for an event, line up in the “RESERVATIONS” line not less than 15 minutes prior to show. When doors open for seating, a volunteer will scan your pass and you’re in!
If you are in the wrong place, the scanners will tell us where you are supposed to be, and our staff will help you get to where you need to be.
* Individual tickets must be printed out with QR code for scanning. If you do not print out your ticket at home, go to the Box Office and the team will print a ticket for you.
If you can’t make your reserved screening, please CANCEL the ticket/reservation by going to your “My Tickets” page in the Eventive App, click MANAGE, and Cancel Tickets.
You can buy tickets online here. Availability is limited. Please note that larger titles such as opening and closing night films will be pass holders only. No individual tickets will be sold. You can purchase passes here.
We’ve got your back! If you’re new to Sunscreen, don’t worry. The best part of Sunscreen is the people. If you get a little confused, aren’t sure where to be, or have questions, please stop by the box office, or ask a volunteer. We are here to help.
Attendee Information
Eventive is a platform that helps film festivals and filmmakers with ticketing, audience data, and other features. Due to past ticketing problems, Sunscreen adopted Eventive in 2025 for film pass sales and scheduling.
Beginning in 2025, to purchase a Sunscreen film pass, it's important to first create a FREE Eventive account. Once created, when you visit the Buy Passes page on the Sunscreen website, you can log into your Eventive account and buy a single ticket or one of our 7 passes that fits your desired festival experience.
Eventive accepts most credit and debit card brands, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, JCB, and Union Pay.
Yes, the festival features a variety of events including Q&A sessions with filmmakers, panel discussions, workshops, parties, and networking opportunities. Detailed schedules will be available on our website as the festival approaches.
Yes, there are several parking options available near the festival venues. Although there is limited street parking, there are several parking garages within a few blocks of the AMC 12 Theatres. The Sundial parking garage is the closest to the theatre and is located at 117 2nd St N, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701. Note: The theater does NOT offer parking validation.
Volunteering and Sponsorship Information
We welcome volunteers to help with various aspects of the festival. Please visit our Volunteer page for more information on available positions and how to apply.
Sponsorship opportunities are available at various levels. For more information, please visit our Sponsorship page or contact our sponsorship team directly at info@sunscreenfilmfestival.com.
Accessibility Information
Yes, all festival venues are accessible. If you have specific accessibility needs, please contact us in advance so we can ensure a comfortable experience for you.
Yes, we provide accommodations such as captioning and audio descriptions for select screenings. Please check our schedule for details on accessible screenings.
Contact Information
You can contact us via email at info@sunscreenfilmfestival.com. Additionally, you can reach out to us through our social media channels.
For more detailed information and updates, please visit our official website regularly. We look forward to seeing you at the 2025 Sunscreen Film Festival!