ANNOUNCING NFFTY ONLINE 14TH FESTIVAL EDITION EXPANDS TO OCTOBER 23 - NOVEMBER 1

Now in its 14th year, Seattle-based NFFTY (National Film Festival for Talented Youth) remains the world's largest and most influential film festival for emerging directors, showcasing young talent from all over the globe. In an effort to keep young filmmakers connected and growing professionally during COVID-19, NFFTY will release all official selections online October 23 - November 1, 2020.

“We’re excited to announce that the entire lineup from our 14th edition will be available online for a global audience,” says Dan Hudson, NFFTY’s Executive Director. “NFFTY is one of the best kept secrets in the film festival world, and unless you’ve traveled to Seattle you’ve missed out.”

In addition to screening the best short films from all over the world, NFFTY programs workshops, panels, and masterclasses designed to help emerging filmmakers take their craft to the next level. “Every year we’ve had hundreds of young filmmakers travel to Seattle to network and learn,” says Hudson. “We’re excited that now everyone with an internet connection will be able to participate for the first year ever.” Many events will be livestreamed, including opening and closing showcases with live filmmaker Q&As, and the awards ceremony.
 
Like many other fall festivals responding to the current moment, NFFTY is planning a hybrid event where physical events and screenings will complement the online film platform. “NFFTY has long been something of an industry summit for emerging filmmakers, and we’re exclusively focused on these filmmakers as we plan limited physical events,” says Amy Williams, Program Director. All physical events will take place on the opening weekend of the 14th edition, October 23 - 25, many of which will be live streamed or recorded for passholders to access on NFFTY Online.
 
NFFTY is launching its inaugural virtual festival in partnership with Eventive, who has streamed recent editions of AFI Docs, Oxford Film Festival, and DOXA, among others. “Eventive has a superior home viewing experience,” says Hudson. “While nothing will beat seeing films with an audience on the big screen, you’ll be able to easily watch on anything from smart phone to smart TV.” NFFTY Online will continue past the 2020 festival edition this fall, as a new home for pop-up festivals, “best of” showcases, workshops, tutorials, and more.
 
In conjunction with this announcement, NFFTY is extending its call for entries through July 31st. Committed to increasing access to professional development and networking opportunities for young filmmakers impacted by COVID-19, all submitters to the 14th edition will receive access to a portion of NFFTY Online’s filmmaker-focused programming. Long a shorts-dominant festival, NFFTY is now exclusively accepting short film entries. There are nine jury categories with a $500 cash prize each, juried by buyers at large indie distributors, programmers at major film festivals, previous NFFTY award-winners, and other film industry movers and shakers.
 
The 13th edition ran in Seattle, WA, October 24-27, 2019 and screened a diverse lineup of 261 shorts and 1 feature-length film in 32 screenings. Over 50% of its official selections were directed by female and non-binary identifying filmmakers, with 40% of the films helmed by non-white filmmakers. The festival also doubled the number of professional development events, including a keynote from Matty Brown, a workshop on "How to Get a Vimeo Staff Pick", and a workshop from Seed&Spark. As part of NFFTY’s commitment to build more professional opportunities for young filmmakers, the festival welcomed back alumni to share lessons and tips with their peers. Among top alumni presenters were Caleb Slain, Hadley Hillel, Laura Holliday, and 2019 Oscar winner Rayka Zehtabchi (PERIOD. END OF SENTENCE.). 
 
NFFTY is a Top 100 Best Rated Festival on FilmFreeway, and was twice named one of the “50 Fests Worth the Entry Fee” by MovieMaker Magazine. NFFTY filmmakers regularly screen new work in top festivals such as TIFF, Sundance, and SXSW, and receive industry accolades such as Student Academy Awards and Vimeo Staff Picks.