Now Accepting Submissions

November 2026 | Virtual | In-person

A platform for horror, fantasy, Afrofuturist, and Southern Gothic stories by and about Black women and emerging filmmakers—across generations and across borders.

What We Love to Program

Bold Genre Storytelling

Films that fully embrace fantasy, horror, Afrofuturism, Southern Gothic, and thriller traditions, while also bringing something fresh and unexpected to the genre.

Folklore, Myth, & Cultural Memory

We love stories inspired by folklore, ancestral traditions, supernatural legends, and cultural mythologies, especially those rooted in the Black diaspora.

Strong Visual Worlds

Atmospheric films with distinct visual styles, immersive environments, and striking cinematography that pull audiences into the story.

Psychological & Supernatural Horror

Films that build tension through mood, suspense, dread, and emotional depth, as well as bold supernatural storytelling.

Complex Black Women Characters

Stories where Black women are centered as heroes, antiheroes, survivors, creators, explorers, or disruptors within imaginative worlds.

Afrofuturist & Speculative Worlds

Stories that imagine radical futures, alternate histories, speculative technologies, or cosmic possibilities

Creative Risk-Taking

Experimental storytelling, genre hybrids, unconventional structures, and films that push the boundaries of form or format.

Innovative Formats

We are excited to program both traditional cinematic formats and vertical films (9:16) that use the format creatively

Surprise Us

Most importantly, we love films that surprise us—stories that are daring, inventive, emotionally powerful, or impossible to forget.

UnShushed! Film Festival accepts entries on FilmFreeway, and Festhome.