Perfection is out. Trying is in.

That’s the sentiment behind the Failed Film Festival, an annual competition that encourages anyone to submit a film so long as it’s made during the allotted work window.

Zero experience is encouraged. So are zero budgets and limits.

“We’re trying to do this punk rock thing where we’re breaking down boundaries for people that mostly exist in their own heads,” says Hayden Amaro, the founder of the Prospect Heights Arts Club, which runs the festival.

“It’s about getting people to try, and be willing and open to the possibility of failure.”

Now in its fourth year, the Failed Film Festival is bigger than ever. Close to 500 people have registered this year, with registrants hailing from around the world, from Japan to South Africa, according to Amaro. That’s twice as many participants as last year.

The Failed Film Festival's launch event in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, on Sept. 6, 2025. Photograph courtesy of Kayla Jaffe.

“I’m always surprised by what gets submitted,” Amaro says.

Whether that be a documentary about a pet bird or a therapy session with a live cockroach, as the festival has seen in the past, the projects pull in applause. Films are screened online and at watch parties across New York City.

Select films are screened in a theater. That’s a major improvement from the festival’s first year, where projects were screened “on a bed sheet taped to a window at a gallery in Bushwick,” Amaro says.

If you’re worried about people seeing your work, don’t be.

“We’re going to celebrate what you make even if it doesn’t come out how you envisioned it,” Amaro says.

Running the festival is a gamble for Amaro, who personally pays for the theater rentals.

“I literally spend my rent money on theaters and hope that people buy tickets and I'll get it back,” he says.

‘I Really Wanted Sundance’: Filmmaker Erin Brown Thomas on Her Daring Project, ‘Chasers’
‘Chasers’ is set to screen alongside two other premiere episodes at Sundance as part of the festival’s Episodic Pilot Showcase.

For Amaro, the risk is worth the reward: Creating a community of like-minded creatives who want to make art more approachable.

“I wanted to create the community that I wanted to be a part of, with a bias for action rather than perfection,” Amaro says.

At the Prospect Heights Arts Club, members “decide what’s valuable and what is not, rather than the art market.”

The group is made of non-professional artists, but that isn’t stopping them from trying.

“We still aspire to the creation of great works,” Amaro says.

The submission deadline for the Failed Film Festival is Monday, Oct. 6. The theater screenings — paid for by Amaro — will be held in mid-October.

While the festival is not a non-profit and does not solicit funding from donors, donations can be made on their website.

“This isn’t a business venture. I do it because I love it and because I love what we create every year,” Amaro says.

Share this article
The link has been copied!