Black Lion Indie Film Festival returns to Norristown for third year, adds student awards May 1–3

An independent film festival created to give suburban creators a platform is set to return to Norristown next month for its third year, bringing new student-focused awards and industry networking to a growing event. The Black Lion Indie Film Festival will run May 1 through 3 at The Centre Theater, a historic downtown venue dating back to 1850.

Organizers say the program will showcase a wide range of work—narrative shorts, documentaries, music videos and feature-length films—with awards presented across 13 categories. Founded by Norristown native Nate Reynolds, who began making independent films in 2019, the festival was launched to provide more accessible opportunities outside larger city-based events.

It aims to welcome filmmakers of all experience levels and genres, from lighthearted storytelling to more intense, thought-provoking projects. This year’s lineup adds awards for animation, college short films and high school short films.

The college category is open to students across multiple states in the region, while the high school category is limited to Montgomery County students and includes a scholarship opportunity for seniors pursuing filmmaking. Organizers are also introducing a networking mixer on opening night to connect filmmakers with professionals from various industries, along with an encore screening of last year’s winning short documentary.

Festival officials said the event continues to grow with sponsor support and remains open to additional partnerships as it looks to expand arts programming in the Norristown community. More information about the festival and submissions is available on its online submissions page.