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Entering its 10th year in 2026, Festival of Cinema NYC will be taking place from Friday August 7th - 16th, 2025. The festival welcomes filmmakers and attendees to the legendary Regal UA Midway theater in Forest Hills Queens, New York, with additional programming that includes workshops, seminars and panels at the Queens Library in Forest Hills, Queens Center in Rego Park, and Yant Tattoo Studios - our official filmmaker lounge.
Festival of Cinema NYC is a fully rounded film festival that looks to nurture and help develop the careers of emerging filmmakers and writers by helping to cultivate a working relationship between emerging artists and industry professionals who can help advance their career in the film industry. The festival particularly seeks feature films from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd time feature filmmakers, as well as shorts and episodic filmmakers that are looking to develop their work into features or series.
Short films of all genres are programmed thematically (Drama, Comedy, Horror, etc.) or paired with feature films to attract the largest audiences possible. The festival takes pride in helping filmmakers find their audience by helping them land distribution deals through scouts and sponsors that are regularly invited to the festival.
Other submission categories include animation, music videos, and an un-produced script.
Top prizes for filmmakers and writers include a pitch meeting as well as a consultation with a film distributor.
Films and un-produced scripts of all lengths, genres and subjects are accepted. Whether your film is a drama, comedy, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, documentary, experimental, LGBTQ, animation, even if it tackles social issues - we want to show it! Our Opening Night, Closing Night, and special screening events (like our Midnight Madness and Underground Films presentations) are all selected from the very best submissions we receive. Plus, every filmmaker that submits a film will automatically receive a one-year subscription to Videomaker Digital Magazine, a leading subscription service that focuses on guiding independent filmmakers with online tutorials and publications (a $20 value). All selected filmmakers get VIP passes that allow entry into all our screenings, events, and parties.
Festival of Cinema NYC is the only film festival in New York City to be supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Council on the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Support from these nationally recognized foundations is a testament to the hard work our team has put into advancing the careers of filmmakers and bringing independent film to the community.
Whether you are trying to break into the industry with your first film or are a filmmaker with several films under your belt, our mission is to help emerging filmmakers get more exposure and media attention, reach larger audiences, and meet other industry professionals who can help further your career.
As an IMDB qualifying festival who has consistently landed on FilmFreeway's Top 100 reviewed list, Festival of Cinema NYC has quickly risen to become New York City's go to festival for the best in Independent Film. Our goal is to bring purpose back to film festivals and make it a platform where filmmakers facing challenges can get their work seen and ultimately picked up for distribution. Our incredible PR team works around the clock to ensure a large attendance at each screening. In addition, every filmmaker is given a post screening Q&A and a chance to interact with attendees and attending industry professionals.
Festival of Cinema NYC was founded by independent filmmakers; therefore, the organizers understand the needs and challenges that filmmakers face. Our festival staff is dedicated to offering filmmakers opportunities to promote and ultimately have their film seen by a large audience, and potentially picked up for distribution. Our festival’s growing reputation of top-notch independent films has consistently attracted more distributors every year, making it a possibility to interact with distributors directly! One of the key components to Festival of Cinema NYC's success is making sure each filmmaker and their film get the proper attention and publicity that they deserve. Our publicity department works diligently to ensure that filmmakers receive coverage in news outlets and local media. Filmmakers at the festival have had their films featured in various news publications around Queens and New York City, including the New York Times, the NY Daily News, the NY Post, the Queens Chronicle, CBSN and NY1 News on Spectrum cable. Attending filmmakers each get a Q&A following their screening, giving them the chance to engage with audiences.
The 10-day film festival hosts panels, workshops and seminars that strongly appeal to filmmakers and attendees seeking further insight into the film industry. Presenters have included Seed & Spark, SAG-AFTRA, and invited guest speakers. Seminars have included topics such as film distribution, how to build a publicity campaign, and how to raise funding for your project.
Festival of Cinema NYC is a competitive festival that honors the submissions with awards in 17 categories. Every film and script selected is eligible for an award.
Past jury members have included writer/director Dito Montiel; Anna Garduno, Executive Producer at Netflix; Amy Peters, Emmy award winner; Doug LeClaire, founder of Asbury Shorts USA; Isil Bagdadi, president of distribution at Cavu Pictures; Actress Raye Levine Spielberg, and David Josh Lawrence, head of acquisitions at Glass House Pictures.
Winners walk away with a beautiful custom statuette as well as prizes being offered from some of our amazing sponsors. Among this year’s prizes, filmmakers can walk away with a distribution consultation, and a 1-hour sound mixing session with Emmy Award winning sound studio Silver Sound.