Manhattan Independent Film Festival

13/11/2023

Manhattan Independent Film Festival Unveils Award Winners Of Its 2023 Edition!

Once again, the Manhattan Independent Film Festival triumphed, showcasing a successful three-day lineup of screenings at the prestigious Park Avenue Screening Room, complemented by a widely viewed online streaming selection.

Festival host and manager Maarten Cornelis: “The award season is in the air and you can feel the excitement at the Park Avenue Screening Room. Out of the 1,300+ films that was received, we were able to share 33 of them as part of our official selection to an audience of critics, jurors and film enthousiasts. What an amazing atmosphere the last 3 days were! We had a great number of film makers attend this year, who all watched an amazing selection of films praised by the attendees. We are so happy to also announce that we will be bringing our festival back at this exclusive NYC theater in 2024. Can’t wait!”

The Manhattan Independent Film Festival is pleased to share with you today the award winners of the 2023 edition:

Best Narrative Feature Film
Kat Combination (United States) by Dan Simolke

Best Documentary Feature Film
Eye to Eye (United States) by Darius Charles Lewis

Best Narrative Short Film
Placebo (United States) by Sage Bennett

Best Documentary Short Film
Flint. For Those Who Dare... (United States) by Raul Barquet

Best Animated Short Film
Poise (Portugal) by Luís Soares

Best Underground Film
Who's Annie? (United States) by Sophia Peer

Best Experimental Film
After Winter, Cherry Blossoms (United States) by Jil Guyon

Best Music Video
Háldi (Norway) by Ann Holmgren

Best Manhattan Story
Nora (United States) by Caitlin Ferrell

Best Actor (f/m/x)
Tricia O'Toole in Nora (United States) by Caitlin Ferrell

Best Director (f/m/x)
Placebo (United States) by Sage Bennett

Congratulations to all!

A new Call for Entries has been launched today on FilmFreeway for the next edition, which will take place November 13-15, 2024. Submit your film now: https://filmfreeway.com/ManhattanIndependentFilmFestival

ABOUT MANHATTAN INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL:
The Manhattan Independent Film Festival discovers, supports, and develops new talent in filmmaking, providing a platform for emerging and established filmmakers from around the world, and a unique focus on stories tied to Manhattan, and NYC. Recognizing the important role independent films have in the history of filmmaking, storytelling, and culture, the annual Manhattan Independent Film Festival wants to help empower the next generation of artists.
The festival is open to all forms and genres. We welcome filmmakers from around the world to submit their work. In addition to narrative, documentary, animated, experimental and underground work, the festival welcomes films that take place in Manhattan for their unique section ‘Manhattan Stories’.
Originally founded in 2015, the first two editions took place at The Producer’s Club and Videology. Starting 2022, the festival has found its new location at the 500 Park Avenue Screening Room. A cozy 55 seat, extremely well-situated venue with a great history and infrastructure. The ideal home for the next generation of filmmakers.

06/11/2023

Nora (United States) by Caitlin Ferrell
Influenced by Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House", This Friday November 10th at 7pm. Nora is confronted with her primal urges, when her husband is away on a business trip and she is left home confined to herself.

06/11/2023

The Artist (United States) by Steve Glassner, get your free tickets for Friday at 7pm.
During a creative block, an artist lives through a haunting experience.

06/11/2023

Let The Wind Whisper (China) by Chaoqun (Anna) Wang, this Friday at 7pm!
A thief uses a blind girl for cover when he's almost busted at action, only to find out that it's a no-easier task to entertain his new pal.

06/11/2023

It's Not About The Hat (United States) by MC Harvey, rsvp your free tickets now!
Navigating the ruins of a breakup, a young woman attempts to get her hat back from her ex.

06/11/2023

Thursday is a Day Transparent (United States) by Hope Christerson watch it on Friday November 10th. “Thursday is a Day Transparent” which takes its name from the novel “Água Viva” by Clarice Lispector, shows a series of vignettes of Brooklyn, New York. The film was shot with a mini DV camcorder on a cold afternoon in March, just a few hours before my husband came home and told me he wanted to separate. Inspired by Chantal Akerman’s “News From Home”, it serves as a short diary of the different sights, sounds and thoughts that made up my world as my marriage was falling apart. The accompanying words are taken from journal entries I wrote over the course of the relationship, along with lines from various songs and poems I encountered. The underlying sound is a mix of different recordings I made by periodically setting my phone on the window sill of the apartment my husband and I shared. The result is a sort of visual stream of consciousness on divorce, loss, and the feeling of home.

06/11/2023

Release (United States) by Pierre Jean Gonzalez, Paul Anthony Notice II, get your free tickets now before they are all gone!
An experimental short film looking into the mind of a Gay, Afro-Latino questioning his self worth. Inspired and based on a poem by Cedric Leiba Jr.

06/11/2023

I Never Had Dreams of My Son (Ukraine) by Jason Blevins, this Friday at 7pm.
After five years of war, a Ukrainian father finds proof his missing son may still be alive in captivity.

06/11/2023

Háldi (Norway) by Ann Holmgren, tickets still available for this screening Friday November 10th at 7pm.
Háldi is a unique Sámi short film in created in the boundaries of film and music. A film by director Ann Holmgren and composer & actor Mette Henriette. The film evolves around a Sámi underground world where you can get inspiration and power. In this world Háldi is all living being’s guardian helper. The film focuses on the unity and power of female relations in Sami tradition and mythology.

06/11/2023

Even If You Love Someone (United States) by Aaron Kopelman, watch this film Friday November 10th at 7pm.
This unscripted short documents the raw intimacy of two lovers' final moments together before one moves away.

06/11/2023

Placebo (United States) by Sage Bennett, order your free tickets for this screening Friday November 10th at 7pm.
A lovesick woman struggles to understand whether she is in love with the hot man that she is on vacation with, or if she is merely projecting a fantasy of who he could be.

06/11/2023

Eye to Eye (United States) by Darius Charles Lewis, the screening for this film is unfortunately sold out.
Eye to Eye is a documentary, taking place between 2020-2022. It focuses on an African American family persevering through COVID, generational trauma, the fear of vulnerability, and the striking effects of grief, told in a series of vignettes. The topics addressed range from police brutality to the importance of mental health, while remaining tightly focused on the human beings affected by the chaos of the pandemic.
The film is a tribute to who and what we lost in the last few years; but it's also a tribute to the blessings we have in front of us.

06/11/2023

Laundry Cycle (United States) by Hudson Price, the screening for this film on Thursday November 9th is sold out.
After dropping off a load of laundry, a boy takes a bike ride ending up in him hitting a pedestrian. The pedestrian sees his clothes are blood-stained and goes directly to a laundromat, seeing the man who had just hit him with his bike. To get his payback, he steals the boy's bike.

06/11/2023

Contrapunctus (Belgium) by Luna Brusselaers, Thursday November 9th, tickets are sold out.
A marriage falling apart.

06/11/2023

Kat Combination (United States) by Dan Simolke, our first feature of the festival, Wednesday November 8th at 7pm. Get you free tickets on our website.

The second in an ongoing trilogy, Kat Combination re-enters the same New York parallel reality as its predecessor, Plastic French. Kat returns to train with Bob Rag in order to acquire an ancient box that leads to an inevitable, future reality. Upon retrieving it, other perspectives start to take center stage.

06/11/2023

Flint. For Those Who Dare... (United States) by Raul Barquet, this Wednesday November 8th at 7pm. Get you free tickets on our website.

Early New York City graffiti writer and documentarian Roberto "Flint..." Gennari, has the opportunity to cement his legacy in the art world half a century later.

06/11/2023

Winded (United States) by Joe Lueben will open our first screening block, this Wednesday November 8th at 7pm.
Get you free tickets on our website.

Crafted entirely out of AI imagery, Winded is a reminder that the pandemic is not over despite society's attempts to move on and forget.

20/10/2023

The Manhattan Independent Film Festival is back.
Join us in-person (FREE) at the 500 Park Avenue Screening Room (November 8-10, 2023), or check out our online program (streaming November 1-17). This year, we've selected 33 films from around the US and the globe for you to discover!
More info and free tickets: https://www.manhattanindiefilmfestival.com

Featuring work by Jil Guyon, Joe Lueben, Raul Barquet, Dan Simolke, Luna Brusselaers, Sophia Peer, Hudson Price, Darius Charles Lewis, Sage Bennett, Aaron Kopelman, Ann Holmgren, Jason Blevins, Pierre Jean Gonzalez, Paul Anthony Notice II, Hope Christerson, MC Harvey, Chaoqun Wang, Steve Glassner, Caitlin Ferrell, …

16/05/2023

Meet New York artist Jil Guyon. Her short “Heat Wave Hallucination” won the award for "Best Experimental Film" at our previous edition. iFilmFestival had an exclusive one-on-one with her a few months ago, on her recent film “Rouyn Noranda” and her experience as an artist and filmmaker.

Meet New York artist Jil Guyon. iFilmFestival had an exclusive one-on-one with her a few months ago, on her recent film "Rouyn Noranda", and her experience as an artist and filmmaker. Jil Guyon is a multidisciplinary visual and performing artist. Her work has been described as “new, dramatic, beau...

07/11/2022

Congratulations to the film The Pitch by Eno Freedman Brodmann for winning Best Comedy at the 2022 Manhattan Independent Film Festival!

07/11/2022

Congratulations to the film 2020 from for winning the Best Underground Film at the 2022 Manhattan independent Film Festival.

07/11/2022

Congratulations to the film Mama by Aslak Danbolt for winning Best Drama at the 2022 Manhattan Independent Film Festival!

07/11/2022

Congratulations to the film Metube: August Sings “UNA Furtiva Lagrima” by for winning Best Foreign Film at the 2022 Manhattan Independent Film Festival!

07/11/2022

Congratulations to the film Heat Wave Hallucination by for winning Best Experimental Film at the 2022 Manhattan Independent Film Festival!

07/11/2022

Congratulations to for winning Best Actor at the Manhattan Independent Film Festival for his performance in Idol directed by !

07/11/2022

Congratulations to Scars by Alex Anna for winning Best Documentary Film at the Manhattan Independent Film Festival!

07/11/2022

Congratulations to Ousmane by for winning Best Narrative Film at the 2022 Manhattan Independent Film Festival!

07/11/2022

Manhattan Independent Film Festival Unveils Award Winners Of Its Comeback Edition!

After a five-year hiatus, the Manhattan Independent Film Festival made a comeback last week, and it is here to stay. Festival host and manager Maarten Cornelis: “Filmmakers and fans from all walks of life gathered Thursday last week for the reopening of the Manhattan Independent Film Festival. Everyone was super excited about our selection of movies and the relaunch of the festival. After a meet and greet, paired with wine and delicious food, we gathered in the Screening Room at the prestigious 500 Park Avenue. We watched the 2022 selection, ending with an overwhelming applause. We are happy to announce that we will be making the 500 Park Avenue Screening Room the home of our festival and we will be back next year for a 3-day event, which will include free entrance. We can't wait to see you back in 2023!”

The Manhattan Independent Film Festival is pleased to share with you today the award winners of the 2022 edition:

Best Narrative Film
Ousmane (Canada)
By Jorge Camarotti

Best Documentary Film
Scars (Canada)
By Alex Anna

Best Acting
Kyle Chen in Idol (Australia) by Alex Wu

Best Experimental Film
Heat Wave Hallucination (USA)
By Jil Guyon

Best Foreign Film
Metube: August Sings 'UNA Furtiva Lagrima' (Austria)
By Daniel Moshel

Best Drama Film
Mamma (Norway)
By Aslak Danbolt

Best Underground Film
2020 (USA)
By Tom Bessoir

Best Comedy Film
The Pitch (USA)
By Eno Freedman Brodmann

Congratulations to all!

A new Call for Entries has been launched today on FilmFreeway for the next edition, which will take place November 8-10, 2023. Submit your film now: https://filmfreeway.com/ManhattanIndependentFilmFestival

ABOUT MANHATTAN INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL:
The Manhattan Independent Film Festival discovers, supports, and develops new talent in filmmaking, providing a platform for emerging and established filmmakers from around the world, and a unique focus on stories tied to Manhattan, and NYC. Recognizing the important role independent films have in the history of filmmaking, storytelling, and culture, the annual Manhattan Independent Film Festival wants to help empower the next generation of artists.
The festival is open to all forms and genres. We welcome filmmakers from around the world to submit their work. In addition to narrative, documentary, animated, experimental and underground work, the festival welcomes films that take place in Manhattan for their unique section ‘Manhattan Stories’.
Originally founded in 2015, the first two editions took place at The Producer’s Club and Videology. Starting 2022, the festival has found its new location at the 500 Park Avenue Screening Room. A cozy 55 seat, extremely well-situated venue with a great history and infrastructure. The ideal home for the next generation of filmmakers.

28/10/2022

Ousmane (Canada) By Jorge Camarotti​ will be opening our 2022 festival.

Synopsis: Ousmane, a newly arrived immigrant living in Montreal, faces a challenging situation when he meets an elderly disoriented lady at the end of his workday. Running time: 00:25:09.

Selections/awards: Toronto International Film Festival, Boston Short Film Festival

​About the director: Born in Sao Paulo. In 2003, Jorge moved to Montreal, where he pursued a career as a professional photographer and then as filmmaker. Since his beginnings in filmmaking 10 years ago, Jorge has directed a dozen short films, both documentary and fiction, always remaining true to giving voice to the most aggrieved individuals of our society. Jorge wrote and directed Kinship (2019), which was selected in many reputable film festivals such as Palm Springs International, Maryland, Clermont-Ferrand (Sodec), Regard and which received a nomination at the 2020 Canadian Screen Awards for best live-action. Besides working as a mentor for aspiring BIPOC filmmakers, Jorge is now working on his first feature film, Edith.