Our film festival empowers individuals to seek and create stories that are specific to their experiences.

Since our founding, the El Paso Film Festival has awarded over $30,000 in cash prizes to filmmakers. If blood, sweat and tears was all it took to make great films, we’d call it a day. But the truth is, filmmaking takes a financial investment. Filmmaking can be costly.

Until the mechanisms that create them become as cheap as paper and pencil, filmmakers will struggle to bring their unique visions to life. In this regard, EPFF is an inclusive champion of the new faces of filmmaking.

Cash Prizes

Cash prizes are one way that producers can recoup costs and continue making the films we enjoy. And if you ever produced an independent film you know how a little can go a long way. We’re proud to be one of only (40) independent film festivals in the country to award the best films with cash prizes.

Key Demographics

  • Presented with the All-America City Award by the National Civic League (NCL) in 1969, 2010, 2018 and 2020.
  • With a population of 685,434, El Paso is the 6th largest city in Texas and the 22nd largest city in the United States with groups of Latino (80%), White (13%), African American (3%), and Asian (2%) demographics.
  • With a median age of 33 for residents, 49.22% are males and 50.78% are females. US-born citizens make up 74.87% of the resident pool in El Paso, while non-US-born citizens account for 14.52%. Additionally, 10.61% of the population is represented by non-citizens.
  • The average annual household income in El Paso is $69,692, while the median household income sits at $51,325 per year. Residents aged 25 to 44 earn $55,954, while those between 45 and 64 years old have a median wage of $60,846.
  • El Paso is currently growing at a rate of 0.27% annually and its population has increased by 5.59% since the most recent census, which recorded a population of 649,121 in 2010.
  • 200+ films presented to date with 1500+ annual attendees for live events. Half of our events are free and open to the public.
  • 100,000+ streaming views on our Roku TVFire TV, and Apple TV channels, which are available to download to your preferred device for FREE.
  • Become a leader in empowering the community of individuals, families, corporations, foundations and nonprofit organizations to improve health, education, social services, economic development and quality of life in our binational, tri-state region.
  • Awareness among hundreds of young professional filmmakers artists and audiences in the West Texas, Southern New Mexico, and Northern Mexico regions.
  • Exclusive participation in active outreach to the non-profit community at large with the Paso del Norte Community Foundation, our trusted fiscal partner.
  • Award up to $5,000 in cash prizes to independent filmmakers and their work, which builds a reserve of goodwill and results in a better filmmaking community at large.

Become a Sponsor

Your brand will gain exposure to a large network of young professional filmmakers and audiences. Learn how your business can impact our region's demographic.

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Donate

Your donations elevate the development of filmmakers as they showcase their talents on a bi-national stage. 

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Volunteer

If you love independent films as much as we do, spend your time and energy volunteering and learning how the festival works.

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