Central Coast Film Festival is an international film and art event created by filmmaker and actress, Rena Riffel, known for her roles in Showgirls (1995), Mulholland Dr. (2001), Striptease (1996).
Formerly known as Concrete Dream Film Festival, is now relaunching as Central Coast Film Festival to embrace the Central Coast of California's beautiful film locations and a new frontier of opportunity for indie film makers which also holds great film and literary history.
The festival program consists of art-house and experimental films in every genre.
Our mission is to bring awareness, recognition, and publicity to the films and their filmmakers. By showcasing films and filmmakers who successfully break boundaries of commercialized formulas, we believe we can set an expansive example and create a wider appreciative audience which can make a positive impact on the arts and entertainment industries.
We are interested in films that are thought provoking and innovative, inspiring and artistic, structurally different, successful at executing risk taking choices, progressive artistic processes in the execution of film-making, and production techniques that better the experience of outdated formulas.
We believe there is a large audience in the world that would appreciate these types of films opposed to the more hugely publicized formulaic block busters. We believe there is a healthier way to make films, a more satisfying way to completion of a project, and a more contemplative, meditative execution compared to the outdated modes of worn out mindsets. We want to change the movie industry one art film at a time.

Laurels of winning the film festival.

No submission fee refunds or requests for free submissions.
Winning films' Filmmaker must provide screening materials; Blu Ray, DVD, or Digital File in order to screen the film according to what the festival requires for the venue to screen. TBA.
Online screeners only for submissions.
The screening location may change venues, TBA.
Opportunity to opt in for the festival to be screened live through the virtual platform, Filmocracy.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Ed Carter

    Festivals celebrating true avant-garde filmmaking are important but rare and we should celebrate the people that make them happen. We are very lucky to have Rena Riffel and her team.

    June 2018
  • GREAT festival, and top-notch communication from the wonderful Festival Director! :)

    June 2018
  • Steve Socki

    Great variety of work. Rene stayed in touch; very helpful.

    June 2018
  • Unfortunately I could not attend the Festival, as I am currently shooting my new film in Greece, but Rena Riffel kept all the time very good networking and communication, making me almost feel as if I were there in person.
    I love this Festival promoting experimental, art-house and avant-garde films. This mission makes it unique and highly recommended to all lovers of cinematography as an art form. The organization was particularly good, the official screenings at Revive Theatre were followed by a week of live screenings at AC Gallery in Hollywood, which also published a book-catalogue about the event.
    I was especially honoured my work "Maria's Silence" was chosen for the "Philippe Mora Award" (that is, the Best Avant-Garde Film Award).

    June 2018