BALTIMORE - Marylandian -- Filmmakers from 17 countries have submitted by short films for screening at the 10th annual Imagination Lunchbox International Film Fest (ILIFF), to be held from September 13 – 20, 2026 at the Eubie Blake Cultural Center, the UA House at Fayette and virtually (with virtual access at all venues). The shorts, so far, are from the U. S., Sweden, Colombia, India, Mexico, Italy, S. Korea, New Zealand, Vietnam, Croatia, Norway, Russia, Taiwan, Australia, Spain, France and Germany.  The last deadline to submit shorts is August 2^nd via Film Freeway. Filmmakers/Directors to speak have projects on BET, Netflix, TUBI, Amazon Prime, YouTube and more, as well as worked on movie projects such as Fast & Furious and Star Trek.

The film festival will be hosted by founder Anthony Michael Hobbs, a SAG/AFTRA actor (PBS/DreamWorks) and filmmaker that has garnered over 20 awards worldwide. In its 10^th year, ILIFF is a combination of the Imagination Lunchbox International Adult Film Festival (https://filmfreeway.com/ImaginationLunchboxInternationalFilmFestival) and the Imagination Lunchbox Children's Film Festival (https://filmfreeway.com/ImaginationLunchboxInternationalChildrensFilmFestival). Based in Baltimore, Maryland, ILIFF is a free event open to the community with virtual access. It is presented in part by the Eubie Blake Center and The Pulse of Entertainment. It is a week-long film festival that starts with private screenings of some short at Baltimore city schools, a public screening and awards ceremony at the Eubie Blake Cultural Center (with virtual access via Zoom) on Saturday Sept 19^th from 1-2pmEST, the IL/Eubie Blake Filmmaking Workshops Saturday September 19^th from 3-5pmEST at the Eubie Blake Center, the IL/MSU Multiplatform Production Virtual Open Call Auditions Sunday Sept. 20^th from 12 – 1pmEST and ends Sunday Sept. 20th with the Imagination Lunchbox Open Court Community Basketball Games at the UA House at Fayette from 1:30pmEST – 3pmEST hosted by ILIFF founder, the ILIFF basketball coach and head basketball coaches from Morgan State University and Bowie State University.

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Speakers at the 10^th annual Imagination Lunchbox International Film Festival include stuntman/director Chuck Borden of FacePlant Films (Fast & Furious and Star Trek films); Attorney Richard B. Jefferson of M.E.T.A.L. IP Law Group in Hollywood (Lionsgate/Summitt); Chair Ash Soltani Stone of Morgan State University (Multiplatform Production Program); Jeanette Greenwood of Ladies in Television & Film (Texas Indie Filmmakers Awards); Arthur Muhammad of Sweet Chariot Productions and Arthur Muhammad Film Studios (BET, Netflix, Tubi, Prime); Mark Hunter of Remarkable Production (TUBI); Nicole Butler of A&B Productions (YouTube). Hosting the IL/Open Court Basketball Games is head coach Winchester of Imagination lunchbox, LLC, head coach Broadus from Morgan State University and head coach Brooks of Bowie State University. Hosting all activities is founder Hobbs.

Past participating filmmakers are saying:

"Simply the best festival ever!"

"Super impressed with them and love that they have kid judges."

"Such a friendly creative film festival. It was a wonderful experience."

The "Imagination Lunchbox International Film Fest" was created in 2016 by Hobbs to give young filmmakers, like him, a platform to screen their films and view other creative projects. Anthony, as a filmmaker, has garnered over 20 awards for writing, starring-in, directing and producing multi award winning short films (One Nation, Naga Pixie ). He has also produced short films through his company Imagination Lunchbox, LLC for others, such as the short Agent Hollywood – another multi-award-winning film. In 2023 he launched the Imagination Lunchbox International Adult Film Festival for shorts directed at a maturer audience.

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So, submit your short film today by hitting the links above or by visiting www.FilmFreeway.com or log onto https://imaginationlunchbox.com/ili-film-festiv... for more information.