Festival Of Cinema NYC is designed to elevate the work of emerging filmmakers and help them get to the next level of their career.
Founded by working independent filmmakers, Festival of Cinema NYC is a fully rounded film festival. The 10-day festival is designed to nurture and help develop the careers of emerging filmmakers and writers by helping to cultivate a working relationship between them and industry professionals who can help advance their careers. 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.
Truly independent cinema
Festival of Cinema NYC is dedicated to bringing exposure to the independent artists who have poured their blood, sweat, and tears into making their vision come true. No budget is too big or too small. You'll never see big budget Hollywood blockbusters at Festival of Cinema NYC. All the films screened, including our opening night, closing night and special screenings, come from homegrown truly independent filmmakers. We champion filmmakers who take creative risks and tell the stories that matter. Our audience comes ready to discover the next breakthrough.
Our press team works around the clock to put your film on the radar of audiences, journalists and industry partners.
Past selections have landed distribution deals and streaming placements after premiering with us.
Meet programmers, producers and creatives through filmmaker lounges, Q&As and afterparties.
Festival of Cinema NYC hosts educational sessions with distributors, guild members, and working filmmakers throughout the festival.
Happy hours, filmmaker meetups, and community events create the connections that keep the festival energy going long after screenings end.
We’re excited to showcase a photo wall at our event, provided by Showtime Photo Booth with locations in Atlanta, Phoenix and Las Vegas Click on the link below to be taken to each gallery.
Click on the images to relive each gallery.
August 7 - 16, 2026
