T.H.E. Film Festival To Join T.H.E. Show Events in 2025

T.H.E. Enterprises has formally announced the long-rumored T.H.E. Film Festival, a new initiative to be held in conjunction with each of its upcoming HiFi shows. T.H.E. Show is the longest running HiFi show in the USA, now in its 29th year. According to T.H.E. Enterprises, this decision to support writers, directors, composers, and other artists who devote their lives to filmmaking is part of the organization’s “vast expansion into home theater, surround sound, immersive 360 audio… commercial audio, and theater experiences.” 

Creating a successful film festival from scratch is no easy task. I co-wrote a short film called T-minus, which has been featured in several festivals throughout 2024, and I can tell you that these events are enormously involved. But with years of experience creating successful audio shows, T.H.E. Enterprises is uniquely positioned to make it happen. T.H.E. Film Festival will be an expansion of the usual T.H.E. Show operations. Each T.H.E. Show event will add a dedicated theater for movie screenings and an awards ceremony. Those of us who enjoy these shows’ established high-end audio and home theater exhibits can go along, business as usual — those will not be changing. But T.H.E Enterprises hopes that the audiophiles and home theater enthusiasts who attend its shows will take the opportunity to join the filmmakers and movie buffs attending the festivals. Film festival attendees will be treated to movie screenings featuring high-end audio and video equipment the likes of which they may never have seen, while HiFi show attendees will be exposed to fascinating films made by talented artists they may not be familiar with. It sounds like a win-win to me.

What is T.H.E. Film Festival?

The festival is an officially-recognized event on FilmFreeway — one of the largest film festival portals worldwide. The films compete for awards such as Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Design, and a variety of others. There will also be special awards for Best HiFi-Focused Content and Best Home Theater-Focused Content. Special awards may also be granted, as seen fit by the Judges and Jury. The festival covers a wide range of genres, and films completed during 2019 or later are eligible. Both short films and feature films may be submitted. Per festival guidelines, horror movies and adult films are excluded in order to keep the festival “family-friendly.”

T.H.E. has a long history of supporting technology, industry, and art over the past 29 years. What has become evident to us from important ongoing dialogue with our existing and new audiences is that supporting creators of the work we love to experience in audio and home cinema is more vital now than ever. For T.H.E., it’s all about supporting the source. If the creation of new art is stifled, what will we listen to and enjoy on our systems? This is an opportunity for us to serve not just the HiFi and Home Theater community, but also the creative community so everyone can reap significant benefits. Options in HiFi and Home Theater are becoming more easily attainable, and with that, T.H.E. recognizes a rise in trade shows dedicated to the hobby. While we celebrate the growth of the industry, T.H.E.’s aim is to distinguish our events by expanding beyond the traditional (or typical) trade show experience. Our goal is to serve a diverse range of people, communities, and industries, offering something memorable and special for all who attend a T.H.E. event, without losing sight of what makes HiFi and Home Theater so wonderful. We want to be more than just another show — we are here to enrich entire experiences for enthusiasts and professionals alike.

— Emiko E. Carlin, CEO of T.H.E. Enterprises and President of T.H.E. Show

Where to attend?

Movie screenings will be held across the United States, to coincide with the T.H.E. Show events at the following locations:

T.H.E. Lone Star Audiofest, May 2-4, 2025 at Embassy Suites Round Rock in Austin, TX

T.H.E Show SoCal, June 6-8, 2025 at Hilton Orange County Costa Mesa in California

T.H.E. New York International Audio Show, October 24-26, 2025 (venue TBD)

For more information, or to submit your film, visit: https://filmfreeway.com/thefilmfestival-2