New York City Film Festivals

Posted by Black Oak On July - 31 - 2009

Living in New York, you are fortunate enough to be surrounded by a constantly moving media and entertainment industry that is at your complete disposal. So why not take advantage of it?

There aren’t many cities in the United States that have even one film festival, but New Yorkers are fortunate enough to have a wide range of film festivals to choose from throughout the year. So get off the couch, forget the movie theater, and appreciate film in about as raw a form as there is.

Here are a few of New York’s best film festivals:

Gotham Screen Film Festival & Screenplay Contest
Debuting in 2007, and generally held in lower Manhattan during the month of October, the Gotham Screen Film Festival and Screenplay Contest is one of the newest film festivals in town, and naturally, it has a more free-flowing vibe than all of the rest. The Gotham Screen, as it is know, seeks to give exposure to first and second-time directors, as well as independent directors. Last year’s feature film winner, L’autre moitie, directed by Rolando Colla, has been featured in several other film festivals and has received good reviews from its Indy peers. This year, the film festival will be held at Tribeca Cinemas, and it will continue to showcase a plethora of international filmmaking talent as it has done in the past.

New York International Latino Film Festival
Sponsored in part by HBO, the Latino Film Festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year as it host its festival at the Clearview Cinemas in the Chelsea part of Manhattan from late July to early August, just as it does every year. The Latino Film Festival has brought a lot of good films to light over the years, including Malta Con Huevo, which won the Heineken Red Star Award for pushing the boundaries of creativity in filmmaking. Outside of the flagship festival, the event also incorporates art and musical showcases, as well as community gatherings and scholarships for future filmmakers. The Latino Film Festival is known for drawing out New York’s Latin Latino film stars! John Leguizamo, Ray Liotta, Vin Diesel, Chritina Milian and Benjamin Bratt all walked the Red Carpet at least year’s event.

New York Film Festival
The New York Film Festival might be one of the most important film festivals for independent artists. A non-competitive event, the New York Film Festival has been running since 1963. The festival is ran by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, which focuses on the endorsement and unveiling of independent filmmaking in America and across the world, and they have also introduced new directors, such as Martin Scorsese, to the rest of the world. Just over the past couple of years, the New York Film Festival has introduced movies such as The Wrestler, Changeling and The Queen to the world. One of this festival’s most popular asides is the “Views from the Avant-Garde” showcase, which runs several experimental film pieces known to be a little more than controversial.

Tribeca Film Festival
Created in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Tribeca Film Festival is one of the most lively and growing festivals in the city and in the country. Really, it’s hard to find a more complete film festival than this one, as it often boast hundreds of screenings, spanning the triangle below Canal street (and above it as well) with independent films and movie connoisseurs alike. The festival originally opened with debuts of tremendous studio films such as Star Wars Episode II, Divine Secrets of the Ya-ya Sisterhood and The League of Extraordinary Gentleman. The festival is extremely popular among young folks for its Hollywood appeal, numerous and vigorous panel discussions, and its popular avant-garde section of the festival which has featured the likes of Brad Pitt and Isabelle Huppert.