Celebrating 10 years of punk cinema. The LA Punk Film Festival is one of the world’s longest-running dedicated international punk film festivals.
Punk cinema has never belonged to one city, one country, or one generation. It has always crossed borders. From the underground filmmakers of the 1970s to today’s international independent filmmakers, punk cinema continues to document the voices, stories and cultures that exist outside the mainstream.
LA Punk Film Festival is proud to be part of that history—and to carry it forward.
In 2017, the LA Punk Film Festival was founded in Los Angeles.
In 2026, the festival celebrates its 10th Annual International LA Punk Film Festival, marking ten years of dedicated punk cinema programming. FilmFreeway, 10 Years Running, with international film submissions, official selections, awards and filmmaker participation.
From the underground to the world: the evolution of punk cinema and the festivals that have kept it alive.
LA as part of a very small, international lineage.
Celebrating 10 years of punk cinema, LA Punk Film Festival is one of the world’s longest-running dedicated international punk film festivals.
LOS ANGELES & BERLIN
Two Cities. Two Festivals. One Punk Cinema.
Punk has always crossed borders.
It was never confined to one city, one country or one generation. From the early underground scenes of Los Angeles, London, New York, Amsterdam, Berlin and beyond, punk has continually created its own music, art, film and culture.
Today, that international spirit continues through a small number of dedicated festivals committed to keeping punk cinema alive.
Among the longest-running dedicated punk film festivals continuing today are LA Punk Film Festival in Los Angeles and Punkfilmfest Berlin — Too Drunk to Watch in Berlin.
Rather than competing for ownership of punk cinema, these festivals represent two distinct cities and communities carrying the same independent spirit forward.
PUNKFILMFEST BERLIN — BERLIN, GERMANY
Berlin has long been one of the world’s great centers of underground art, music and counterculture.
Too Drunk to Watch. Punkfilmfest Berlin has become an important home for punk cinema in Europe, presenting documentaries, features and short films connected to punk, anarchism, resistance and DIY culture.
The festival has developed an international program that brings punk filmmakers and stories from different countries and scenes together in Berlin.
Its 2025 edition marked the festival’s 12th edition, with the 13th edition scheduled for 2026.
We honor Punkfilmfest Berlin for helping create and sustain an international platform for punk cinema and for keeping the connection between film, music, community and independent culture alive.
LA PUNK FILM FESTIVAL — LOS ANGELES, USA
Los Angeles has its own extraordinary place in punk history and Hollywood Cinema.
From the early Los Angeles punk scene to the filmmakers, musicians, artists and independent creators who documented it, LA has always been a city where punk culture and filmmaking have collided.
In 2017, the LA Punk Film Festival was founded in Los Angeles.
What began as a festival dedicated to punk films and the history of Los Angeles punk has grown into an international platform for independent punk cinema.
In 2026, LA Punk Film Festival celebrates its 10th Annual International Festival, marking a decade of presenting filmmakers, documentaries, features, shorts, music films and stories from punk communities around the world with a dedicated punk documentary and film awards shows honoring the filmmakers. The festival also brought 2025, 1st place winner on a tour to exhibit beyond the festival window. Filmmaker and Writers Awards are honored separately.
TWO PUNK CITIES
BERLIN
A historic European center of underground culture.
LOS ANGELES
A legendary American center of punk music, film and independent creativity.
Two cities separated by thousands of miles.
Two different punk histories.
Two independent festivals.
One shared belief:
Punk stories deserve to be seen.
A FRIENDLY INTERNATIONAL LINEAGE
The history of punk cinema should not be viewed as a competition over who arrived first.
Punk itself was never about following a single path.
It was about creating your own.
Berlin and Los Angeles represent that same spirit.
Each festival has developed its own identity, community, programming and traditions while contributing to the larger international conversation around punk film.
Filmmakers can travel between scenes.
Films can cross borders.
Audiences can discover punk stories from places they have never visited.
And the culture continues to evolve.
We proudly recognize Punkfilmfest Berlin as a fellow long-running international home for punk cinema, and we celebrate the work of everyone who has built punk film festivals, screenings and independent film communities around the world.
Different cities. Different histories. Different voices.
United by punk cinema.
THE NEXT GENERATION
The survival of dedicated punk film festivals is important because punk cinema is more than nostalgia.
New filmmakers continue to document their communities, challenge conventions, experiment with form and tell stories that might never find a home in the mainstream.
Festivals give those filmmakers somewhere to gather.
Somewhere to be seen.
Somewhere to meet each other.
Somewhere to discover that the underground is not as isolated as it may seem.
From Berlin to Los Angeles, punk cinema continues to build connections across borders.
And the story is still being written.
2017 — 2026
LA PUNK FILM FESTIVAL
10 YEARS OF PUNK CINEMA
We celebrate our 10th anniversary with respect for the filmmakers, musicians, artists, organizers, venues and audiences who came before us—and with gratitude to the festivals around the world that continue to carry punk cinema forward.
Including our fellow punk-film community in Berlin.
Los Angeles → Berlin → The World
Punk Cinema Has No Borders.
