2025 BETTER CITIES FILM FESTIVAL
DETROIT
September 18-21
Festival News & Information
2025 Film Selection Underway
July 27, 2026
With submissions now closed, our team is busy reviewing all 146 films entered for this year’s Better Cities Film Festival. This is one of the most exciting parts of the process—discovering powerful stories and standout films. Sometimes, emerging themes across multiple submissions even inspire new topical film blocks.
While the full program will be announced in a few weeks (after filmmaker notifications go out on August 5), we can already tell: this year’s lineup is shaping up to be something special. Stay tuned!
VENUES
America’s #1Public Square, Campus Martius in Downtown Detroit, 800 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48226, is the main venue for the 2025. Pull up a chair, or bring your own chair or blanket, and watch the films in this beautiful civic space surrounded by great places to grab a bite to eat or enjoy a beverage.
EXPLORE DETROIT
If you're headed to Detroit for the first time, or haven't been to the city in a while,VisitDetroit.com has the best set of Detroit-centric travel-planning tools living on the web to help you plan an exciting visit.
SWAG
Check out our online shop for official BCFF swag and merch, including shirts, hats & posters.
SUBMIT A FILM FOR 2026
Submissions are closed for 2025, but we’ll open submissions for 2026 on our FilmFreeway page in the fall.
2025 SPONSORS
