Moonplay Cinema is a new feminist screening program featuring women and gender non-conforming filmmakers and moving image artists. We screen short films that are under 30 minutes and prefer auteur-driven experimental, documentary, and innovative narrative works. Our first screening event will be held on Sunday, June 28th.

Moonplay is a platform for those identifying with marginalized gender identities. Our work is vastly overlooked, ignored, and not equally represented within traditional film communities. Those identifying as women, femme, trans, and gender non-conforming are all encouraged to apply to screen with Moonplay. We open our call for submissions at least three months before each screening event.

Our events take place 1-4 times a year at Dreamland Arts, a 40-seat theater owned and operated by theater artists Zaraawar Mistry and Leslye Orr. The theater, named after a dilapidated movie theater in Secunderabad, India, is located in the Hamline-Midway neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota. It is attached to the artists' house through an underground passage in the basement.

Moonplay is organized and curated by artist and filmmaker, Jes Reyes, the founder of the Altered Esthetics Film Festival. She directed the festival as an official ARTshare program at The Southern Theater for 4 seasons (2014-2017). She has been developing Moonplay Cinema for the last two years, so she is excited to get it off the ground and running.

Minnesota filmmakers always submit for free. There is a $5 submission fee for national and international filmmakers. Please see the rules for waiver requests. We only take submissions through FilmFreeway. All submissions are kept on file even after our closing date. If we don't select your film for the current screening period, we may include you at a later time.

Thanks for applying to screen with Moonplay!