CineFest Latino Boston is back live and in-person September 28 – October 1, 2023! Submissions are now open.

Founded and led by WIFVNE Member Sabrina Avilés, the Cinefest Latino Boston Film Festival is committed to using the power of film to break stereotypes, bring cultures and communities together and reveal the complex issues affecting the Latinx community in the United States, as well as communities in Latin America and Spain.

Submit on FilmFreeway.
April 10, 2023:  Earlybird deadline
May 15, 2023:  Regular deadline
June 15, 2023:  Late Deadline

The 6th Annual Mystic Film Festival will take place October 19-22, 2023 in beautiful Mystic, Connecticut and surrounding areas.

Mystic Film Festival is an annual event that showcases independent feature-length and short-form narrative films and documentaries from around the world.

The festival is now accepting film and un-produced screenplay submissions and offering a 50% discount on submission fees to WIFVNE filmmakers and screenwriters. WIFVNE Members, please log in to see the discount code. 

Earlybird Deadline - February 28, 2023

Regular Deadline - April 30, 2023

Late Deadline - May 28, 2023

Extended Deadline - June 18, 2023

Notification Date - July 17, 2023

For details and to submit, visit FilmFreeway.

The Mystic Film Festival Jury will recognize the top films in competition: Best Narrative Feature, Best Feature Documentary, Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, Best International Narrative Feature, Best International Feature Documentary, Best International Narrative Short, Best International Documentary Short, Best New Director, Best New England Film, Human Rights Award, Best Conservation Film, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Student Film, Lifetime Achievement Award, Grand Jury Prize Narrative Feature, Grand Jury Prize Narrative Short, Grand Jury Prize Feature Documentary, Grand Jury Prize Documentary Short, Best Screenplay Narrative Feature, Best Screenplay Narrative Short, Audience Choice Award (festival-wide), and Audience Choice Award (Student Film Showcase).

The festival will also be offering awards for the top five winners of their screenplay competition such as a meeting with a literary manager and ISAConnect Membership. Some additional prizes will be announced soon.

Questions? Please email info@mysticfilmfestival.com.

The Lonely Seal International Film, Screenplay and Music Festival showcases “Stories Aching to Be Told.” Prizes include showcases for Worldwide Buyers at Cannes, prominent placement on a new crowdfunding platform, Final Draft software, strategic advice, and other career-enhancing gems. Submit now for a chance to be a part of the WIFVNE showcase (more details to follow)!

WIFVNE Members receive a discount on submissions.  Submit on Film Freeway.

Just to name a few of the Prizes and Awards:

Grand Prize – A showcase for cinema buyers at Cannes, one year of development advice, and one year of strategic financing and distribution advice. The Grand Prize also includes a cutting-edge website with two years of hosting, Final Draft software, and prominent placement on Hourglass24, a new crowdfunding site.

* Our Grand Prize may be awarded to ANY FILMED PROJECT in our festival.

SPECIAL AWARD

Best Female Filmmaker - A showcase for cinema buyers at Cannes, development advice, strategic financing, and distribution advice.

SCREENPLAY AWARDS

• Grand Prize Screenplay Winner - A showcase for cinema buyers at Cannes, one year of development advice, and one year of strategic financing and distribution advice. The Grand Prize includes Final Draft software and prominent placement on Hourglass24, a new crowdfunding site.
• Best Short Screenplay - A showcase for cinema buyers at Cannes and strategic advice.
• Best Script Accessible Feature Screenplay - A showcase for cinema buyers at Cannes and strategic advice.
• Best Script Accessible Short Screenplay - A showcase for cinema buyers at Cannes and strategic advice.
• Best Teleplay - A showcase for cinema buyers at Cannes and strategic advice.
• Best Play/Musical - A showcase for cinema buyers at Cannes and strategic advice.

KEY DATES

• The regular submission deadline is April 30, 2023.
• The late submission deadline is May 31, 2023.
• The extended deadline is June 30, 2023.

Submissions are NOW OPEN for the 2023 Topaz Film Festival! 

For 22 years, Women in Film Dallas has provided a platform for independent women filmmakers to promote their work through its annual film festival.

The Topaz Film Festival is an extension of the Women in Film Dallas Scholastic Grant Fund, a 501c3 that provides financial support through grants and scholarships to women in the pursuit of media arts degrees and those in the productions of film, television and screen-based media. Proceeds from the festival will serve to fund the scholastic grant.

This year’s program is tentatively set for October 12-22, 2023 and will consist of a minimum of 4 short film blocks (Texas, comedy, student, and other shorts) and at least one centerpiece feature film (dependent upon submission volume). The 2023 Topaz Film Festival will present in-person and virtual screenings. Virtual screenings will be limited to certain geographic regions as determined by the festival directors.

Early Submission Deadline is March 16, 2023. Regular Deadline is June 1, 2023.

Visit FilmFreeway to begin the submission process!

If you have any questions regarding the festival, please email topazfilmfest@gmail.com.

Over 60 Film Screenings and Industry Panels at 3rd Annual Norwalk Film Festival

January 20-22, 2023

The 2022-23 Norwalk Film Festival will run Sat-Sun, with an opening night party for filmmakers on Friday night. Screenings, panels and networking opportunities will be held at the Wall Street Theater and Norwalk Public Library (Belden Ave). Both venues are conveniently aligned in the Wall Street area of the City to take advantage of the walkability of Wall Street; attendees can easily move between events, and enjoy the historic district.

In addition to the screenings, a myriad of informative workshops, educational panels, and student and filmmaker networking opportunities will be featured throughout the festival. The full festival schedule is available on the website: www.norwalkfilmfestival.org.

One such panel is the Art of Screenwriting, which will take place on Sunday, January 22 at 1pm. This panel will focus on the experience of screenwriting: the inspiration, process, and culmination in creating winning screenplays and scripts. Led by Marga Costa, this panel will feature WIFVNE Board Member Dusty Noval and WIFVNE Member Sharbari Ahmed. Sharbari was on the writing team for season one of the TV series Quantico on ABC, writing two episodes and contributing to the rest. She is currently one of the head writers of the show Kriya Karam to be released on Voot (Viacom/Paramount) in India in 2023, internationally soon after. Shabari adapted the middle grade novel, Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Bose Perkins for the screen, the adaptation of which has won several awards.

The NFF was founded by and operates with a grassroots community of volunteers comprised of filmmakers, cultural leaders, and movie lovers living and working in Norwalk. The festival leadership believes that cultural equity is a key component to long-term viability of a diverse and thriving artistic community. The goal of the NFF team is to bring together local communities and stimulate ongoing dialogues generated by the power of cinema.

To purchase tickets, visit www.norwalkfilmfestival.org. WIFVNE Members receive a discount on tickets. 

The Norwalk Arts Society, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that seeks to improve the general public awareness and appreciation of arts, culture, and education in Norwalk, serves as the fiduciary sponsor for the Norwalk Film Festival.

WIFVNE is a proud sponsor of Salem Film Fest's Mass Reality Check Documentary Shorts Competition!

Selected shorts will screen during the first weekend of the fest (March 23 - April 2, 2023) followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers in attendance.

Submissions are FREE and all forms of documentary are welcome. Entries must be made by current students or 2022 graduates who live in MA OR attend(ed) a MA college/ university. Full rules and guidelines for each competition can be found at the hyperlinks below. The deadline to submit is March 1, 2023.

KEEPING IT REAL (High School) | MASS REALITY CHECK (College/University)

WIFVNE is a proud sponsor of the Mass Reality Check. The first place winner will receive a complimentary one-year membership to WIFVNE, career advice from one of our board members, as well as other prizes from co-sponsors Documentary Educational Resources, Boris FX, and Talamas. For more information, click here.

SUBMIT YOUR FILM today!

Contributed by WIFVNE member Alyson Muzila

Filmmakers, writers, actors, and producers were just some members of the film industry in New England that gathered Oct. 20-23 at the fifth Mystic Film Festival in Mystic, CT and Westerly, RI. A wide variety of films were screened at various locations, and workshops and panels added to the high value of the accessible and down-to earth festival.

WIFVNE sponsored a Women in Comedy Short Films block followed by a Q&A panel on Saturday. The event was kicked off by local comedian Emily Siero, followed by a tribute to well-known comedian and Connecticut native Ruth Buzzi (of Laugh-In fame), who received the Lifetime Achievement Award.  Four short films then screened, and WIFVNE president Sharon Contillo hosted the Q&A with the filmmakers in front of a full audience at the La Grua Center. Finally, audience members and festival goers, a number who are WIFVNE members from New England states, had ample time to network and connect.

It was a highly successful event, and WIFVNE looks forward to additional opportunities to showcase its local filmmakers and offer networking with film festival partners.

“Emotional” and “intimate” is an understatement when describing the documentary, Bad Axe by David Siev, which recently appeared at Emerson College’s Bright Family Screening Room as part of the Boston Asian American Film Festival. As a fellow Cambodian filmmaker myself, the film depicts experiences I relate to in a way that I have never seen captured on screen before. The documentary follows the Siev family throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Black Lives Matter rallies, and the ups and downs of owning a family restaurant in Bad Axe, Michigan. Siev’s work is touching, inspirational, and his family’s story speaks to the aspiration of attaining the American Dream.

 

This past Friday, I attended the Boston Palestine Film Festival on behalf of WIFVNE. Located at Emerson College’s Bright Family Screening Room, the night presented the first world premier screening of Hush (Samar Qupty) and a screening of Salma’s Home (Hanadi Elyan) followed by a Q&A with each respective director and producer, Nathan Bennett. Both films offer a rich, emotional experience through the eyes of Palestinian women and represent the strength of women and female-identifying, People of Color. There is power in embracing every aspect of one’s  culture and presenting that to the world; that power and care is delivered in these films. Hush depicts a charming story that delves deeply into the struggles of being a woman, while additionally displaying the strength in female relationships and support from other women. Salma’s Home shares the emotional ups and downs of family relationships and learning to love through hardship through the interconnected lives of three women. It was an honor to be in attendance at this event and I cannot recommend these works enough!

 

WIFVNE's New Hampshire co-Chair Jaci Kjernander recaps the New Hampshire Film Festival 2022. 

It was a whirlwind 4 days at the New Hampshire Film Festival. Many members of WIFVNE had their films screen, including Rachel Thomas, Laina Barakat, Jaci Kjernander, Miriam Olken, Alyson Muzila, and the list goes on!

WIFVNE was fortunate enough to host a panel on Friday called “Changing Lanscapes”. Former WIFVNE New Hampshire Chair, Christine Altan, asked poignant questions of former WIFVNE Board member, Anna Feder (Head of Film Exhibition and Festival Programs in the Visual Media Arts Department at Emerson College and director/producer) and Nicole Galavski (creator/showrunner of “Growing Up” on Disney+, “The Hair Tales” on Hulu, “What Would Sophia Loren Do” on Netflix).

The 150 screened films inspired film makers of all genres. There were also incredible events that provided the best of networking. WIFVNE is happy to welcome our newest members from the weekend and looking forward to working with NHFF next year!

Top:  WIFVNE Board Member Rachel Thomas-Medwid (second from left) with her crew/cast from PENNY (including WIFVNE Member Alyson Muzila, far right)
Middle:  WIFVNE Members Michelle Lee and Miriam Olken at BHFF
Bottom:  "Changing Landscapes" panelists. Former WIFVNE New Hampshire Chair Christine Altan, panel moderator, second from right.