The 2026 Daddying Film Festival & Forum (D3F) is hosting a special music and dance video contest to choose opening acts that will perform live at the 2026 Daddying Film Forum in Washington, DC (venue TBD), January 30-31.​​

​

 

Students/Dads Click to submit FREE on FilmFreeway by Oct 3, 2025​

​

​WHO CAN ENTER?

The D3F Opening Acts competition is open to local area students (3rd graders – undergraduates), Dads, Dad figures, and Granddads who love to perform. D3F will accept videos across a range of musical, spoken-word, and dance performance categories, including elementary, middle, and high school choirs, bands, a cappella groups, dance groups, and drill teams; all-student rock bands, poetry slammers, rappers, Dad/Dad figure/Granddad-child musical duets and dance routines, solo Dad/Dad figure/Granddad performers, and all-Dad/Dad figure/Granddad bands.

 

Musical/poetry performances and choreography can be dad-related songs OR poems, originals or covers, live or lip-synced. All that's required is for submissions to relate in some way to the D3F themes (Dad-child related and family-friendly) and be at least a minute long (think TikToks and Instagram reels). In addition to contest consideration, all videos submitted will be entered automatically into the 2026 Daddying Film Festival and eligible for Atticus Award consideration. Music/dance video contest entries are FREE*, but must be submitted on FilmFreeway no later than the D3F Mockingbird deadline of Friday, October 3, 2025.

 

NOT FROM DC AREA? NO PROBLEM!

Even if you're not a student, Dad, Dad figure, or Granddad located in the Greater Washington, DC area, we'd love for you to create and submit a daddying-related, music or dance video for D3F 2026 consideration! Your submission will still be FREE before the October 3rd Mockingbird deadline, and students/Dads/Dad figures will still be eligible to earn an Atticus Award and prize money in their respective student/Dad/Dad figure award categories!

​​​​

*NOTE to choir/dance directors, teachers, and other adults submitting videos for students: please submit your contest entry on FilmFreeway as a "student" submission to ensure properly categorized.

 

Stay tuned to our website, social media pages, and MailChimp for the latest D3F news.

 

Lights! Cameras! Daddy on!