Folk Horror Film Fest
October 23-24, 2026
As part of Sarahfest 2026, the Isom Center is partnering with the Department of Theatre and Film to host the inaugural Sarahfest Folk Horror Film Fest. ]
More information coming soon.
Calling Student Filmmakers!
Do you have a short film that explores folk horror? We want to see and share (or promote) it! Here’s your chance to submit your short film for an opportunity to be screened on the opening night of Sarahfest’s inaugural Folk Horror Film Festival - October 23 & 24, 2026.
What is Folk Horror:
Folk Horror is a genre that explores landscape, isolation, skewed morality, and isolated communities often steeped in folk traditions or myth. These films can create feelings of dread and unease. In short, scare you! These elements are what film scholar Adam Scovell calls the “folk horror chain.”
In their introduction to Folk Horror: New Global Pathways, Dawn Keetley and Ruth Heholt ask if “it is time to look beyond the folk horror chain – both to complicate Scovell’s four links and to explore other paradigms and histories.”
The Sarahfest Folk Horror Film Festival invites student filmmakers whose work experiments with these elements of the folk horror genre. Share your vision with us!
Do you have a short film that:
Has folk horror elements, aesthetics, or themes
Examines how horror can present itself as both banal and uncanny when it comes to local folklore, legend, and hauntings
Is experimental and expands or plays with the genre
If so, please submit a high-quality screening link of your film by September 30. Works-in-progress will be considered, but please note that final deliverables of complete selected films will be due by no later than Wednesday, October 21st.
