The NYC Indie Film Festival provides a showcase for the best in independent cinema, including short films, feature films, music videos, and animated works.
With panels, parties, and a week-long gathering of fellow indie filmmakers, the 6th Annual New York City Independent Film Festival is the place to be October 12 – 18. The festival strives to promote an open and nurturing environment for artists, writers, actors, film-makers and fans. They will be screening the best indie films and offering panels, classes, seminars, and discussion groups, as well as opportunities for the filmmakers and fans to mingle and network.
The NYC Indie film Fest is eager to embrace fresh ideas and storytelling. There will be screenings of narratives, documentaries, short films, super shorts, animations ,and music videos. The festival is looking for filmmakers whose passion for the art form is real as they push films in new directions.
Highlights of the films include:
Ants Pact: Written and directed by Benjamin Martins. Paul is 16 years old and earns his pocket money working the streets. Fleeting encounters shape his daily routine, until he comes across a group of teenagers that teach him the lesson that nobody can run away from their problems. However, Paul has made a pact; a pact with some ants. The boundaries between reality and imagination are shaking and Paul creates himself a world in which he feels at home.
1500 Words: What would you do if you went to the doctors and discovered that you only had 1500 words left to live? What would you say? Are some words more important than others? “1500 Words” is the dark and comedic tale of one man’s struggle to keep his relationship, and himself alive whilst using his final one thousand five hundred words. When everyman Stanley Franks goes to his doctor to receive his test results, he’s told the brutal and surprising news of how long he has left to live. Shell-shocked and overwhelmed Stanley has to work out pretty quickly how to adapt to life with his new restrictive affliction. Life will never be the same again… or will it? How will he cope? How will he break the big news to his long term girlfriend?
Carefree: Tara, a quirky, high-strung girl in her 20’s visits her hometown, for the first time since leaving at 17, to crash her high school sweethearts wedding. Through a series of awkward encounters and ridiculous scenarios she finds that not too much has changed back home, yet everything has changed.
Chosen Family: Even with the increased visibility of LGBTQ+ struggles and individuals, many public spaces remain inherently unsafe for Queer People of Color (QPOC). For many people who experience oppression at the intersection of race, gender, and sexuality, recent gains in legal rights do little to ensure that they are safe in the public sphere. The creation and maintenance of separate and private spaces for LGBTQ+ identified people is often a necessary tactic for survival. Chosen Family, highlights the story of 5 women identified people of color who create an intentional safe space in an attempt to foster community and build their ‘Chosen Family’.
Muneeza in the Middle: “Muneeza in the Middle” is the story of a 2ND generation Canadian Muslim trying to reconcile her religious values with her cultural and western values. Her religion urges modesty in all facets of life. She’s a beautiful, confident, outspoken lawyer who dresses well and turns heads. But don’t be fooled.
The festival’s mission is to showcase the best independent films, from all around the world, to the public and the entertainment industry in New York City. The vision of the festival is to stay focused on the low budget films and emerging filmmakers, the true Indies, and to create the largest gathering worldwide of true indie filmmakers.