3 Days. 2 States. 1 Film Festival. PUSH! Film Festival, held in Historic Downtown Bristol, TN/VA, is a competitive, 3-day festival and celebration of the cinematic and visual arts. By bringing diverse films to our community and showcasing the best regional filmmakers, PUSH! aims to expand the artistic image of our region, engage new audiences in the world of film, and inspire creativity in all of us.
In addition to a diverse variety of curated films, the film festival – now in its third year – will host competition films that devotes categories to Best Tennessee Films and Best Virginia Films (shot in the two states or made by a filmmaker from TN or VA), as well as Best Short and Best Feature (open to all films – local, national, and international). This year we will also be recognizing an Audience Award.
PUSH! will also offer exciting parties and get-togethers, along with a variety of educational opportunities for filmmakers and audience members of all ages. Films and workshops will be held across several venues including the historic, art-deco Paramount Bristol, the Bristol Public Library, and the Smithsonian-affiliated Birthplace of Country Music Museum.
The 2017 PUSH! Film Festival will be held on the weekend of October 20–22, 2017. Join us for a variety of wonderful films and an unforgettable experience!

Why “PUSH?”

The original Bristol sign, built in 1910, carried the slogan “PUSH! That’s Bristol” to reflect the push in growth Bristol was undergoing in the early 1900s.
By 1915, the sign had been moved to span State Street, and in 1921, the old slogan was replaced with the current one: “Bristol: A Good Place to Live.”
Based on that cool history, we named the festival PUSH!, a shout-out to the growth in arts, culture and heritage happening in our town. (Plus, it can be used as a fun play on words: “Push play to start that movie!”)