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New York City Independent Film Festival

New York, United States

Festival overview

About New York City Independent Film Festival

Physical film festival in New York, United States with submission categories including Narrative Feature and Narrative Feature Films.

See the world Indie Style! In a world divided by fear Independent Filmmakers from around the world join together in New York City for one week every year to share ideas, hopes and dreams.

As the filmmaker's show their films, talk on panels and interact with fans, the world's similarities become obvious. Help the New York City Independent Film Festival provide a showcase for the best independent cinema, from New York City and around the world.

The Festival offers the artisan filmmaker the potential for networking and distribution. With our budget being a fraction of TriBeCa’s this is a real honor.

We are thrilled! We couldn’t do it without you and your films, so we thank you for your support.

New York City Independent Film Festival (NYCIndieFF) will celebrate the Independent Filmmaker, documentaries, short and feature-length films and animation. Whether a submission is comedic, dramatic, or something in between, The NYCIndieFF is eager to embrace fresh ideas and storytelling.

All NYCIndieFF screenings take place in the historic center of NYC, Time Square which is the perfect home for an event geared toward creating incredible opportunities for independent voices. NYCIndieFF honors the Best in Category which includes Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary, Best Short Documentary, Best Short Narrative, Best Super Short, Best Covid Diaries, as well as Best Director and Best Screenplay.

NYCIndieFF provides a showcase for the best in independent cinema, including short films, feature films, music videos, and animated works. With panels, parties and a week-long gathering of fellow indie filmmakers NYCIndieFF is the place to be June 3 to June 6, 2027 This dates may move to accommodate any and all government regulations.

See you in NYC and in 2027!!

Schedule

Important Dates

Call for Entries Opens
Mar 1, 2026
Final Submission Deadline
Feb 15, 2027
Notification Date
Mar 15, 2027
Festival Starts
Jun 3, 2027
Festival Ends
Jun 6, 2027
Location details

Office & Venue

Venue address
358 West 44th Street 2nd Floor New York, New York 10036 United States
Eligibility

Rules & Eligibility

General Rules+
  1. Please be sure to read the submission guidelines before you mail and/or attach a link to the entry.

  2. We will try to accommodate people as much as possible.

  3. Depending on the number and date of submissions we may have limited time and resources to figure out application mistakes.

  4. Please try and be as accurate as possible.

  5. We do not pay screening fees!

  6. I wish we could but we just do not have the funds for it.

  7. Sorry!

  8. If your film is selected we will be screening all films from hard drives.

  9. Final file details will be posted here soon.

  10. But always work.

  11. Often when we send our first email to people our emails can go to spam.

  12. Around February 15 please start to check you spam folder before deleting everything!

  13. If your film is selected to be in the festival, you will be given free admission to the festival.

  14. All filmmakers may also choose to be part of one of our panels. (We cannot help with any transportation, food or housing costs.) If you are coming to the festival and want to be a part of a panel during the festivities we need to know by April 1, 2026 so we can make arrangements such as number and size of panels, etc.

  15. It will depend on the number of people coming to the festival; both fans

Current Categories, Deadlines & Fees

Category

Narrative Feature

Current Fee
Category

Narrative Feature Films

A narrative film is a work of fiction. A Narrative Film 70 to 140 minutes long.

Current FeeUSD 55.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 140 minutes
Category

A narrative film is a work of fiction. A Narrative Film 70 to 140 minutes long

Current Fee
Category

Documentary Feature

A Documentary is a film based on facts, it tells a true story about someone or some event. Documentary films 70 to 130 minutes in length.

Current FeeUSD 55.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 130 minutes
Category

Narrative Mid-Length films

A narrative film is a work of fiction. Narrative Mid-Length films 41 - 70 minutes in length.

Current FeeUSD 50.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 70 minutes
Category

A Documentary is a film based on facts, it tells a true story about someone or some event. Documentary films 70 to 130 minutes in length

Current Fee
Category

Mid-Length Documentary Film

A Documentary is a film based on facts, it tells a true story about someone or some event. Documentary Mid-Length Films 41 - 70 minutes on length.

Current FeeUSD 50.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 70 minutes
Category

Mid-Length Narrative Film

Current Fee
Category

Narrative Short Films

A narrative film is a work of fiction. Narrative Short film 11 - 40 minutes in length.

Current FeeUSD 45.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 40 minutes
Category

A narrative film is a work of fiction. Narrative Mid-Length films 41

A narrative film is a work of fiction. Narrative Mid-Length films 41 currently lists a maximum runtime of 70 minutes.

Current Fee
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 70 minutes
Category

Short Documentary

A Documentary is a film based on facts, it tells a true story about someone or some event. Documentary Short films 11 - 40 minutes on length.

Current FeeUSD 45.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 40 minutes
Category

Super Short Film

Any Films 10 minutes and under in length. A Super Short maybe a documentary which s a film based on facts, it tells a true story about someone or some event. OR a narrative film which is a work of fiction. Any film with a length under 10 minutes.

Current FeeUSD 38.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 10 minutes
Category

A Documentary is a film based on facts, it tells a true story about someone or some event. Documentary Mid-Length Films 41

A Documentary is a film based on facts, it tells a true story about someone or some event. Documentary Mid-Length Films 41 currently lists a maximum runtime of 70 minutes.

Current Fee
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 70 minutes
Category

Super Short Documentary

Any Films 10 minutes and under in length. A Super Short a documentary which s a film based on facts, it tells a true story about someone or some event. A film with a length under 10 minutes.

Current FeeUSD 38.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 10 minutes
Category

Short Animation

Animation short films from 1 to 30 minutes in length. Animation is a way of making a movie from many still images. The images are put together one after another, and then played at a fast speed to give the illusion of movement.... A person who makes animations is called an animator. It also may be computer generated.

Current FeeUSD 42.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 30 minutes
Category

A narrative film is a work of fiction. Narrative Short film 11

A narrative film is a work of fiction. Narrative Short film 11 currently lists a maximum runtime of 40 minutes.

Current Fee
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 40 minutes
Category

Music videos

Music video are videos created to company a song. We love music videos they are interesting and enhance the song and give the artist the opportunity to show off more then just their voice. From dance to acting to graphic abilities.

Current FeeUSD 25.00Early
Category

Arthouse Short 1 to 20 minutes

An Arthouse film, also known as art cinema, is a type of movie that strays from the mainstream commercial path to create a unique artistic expression. These films are typically characterized by their serious, often experimental nature, prioritizing directorial creativity and artistic vision over mass-market appeal. Runtime between 1 minute and 20 minutes.

Current FeeUSD 40.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 20 minutes
Category

A Documentary is a film based on facts, it tells a true story about someone or some event. Documentary Short films 11

A Documentary is a film based on facts, it tells a true story about someone or some event. Documentary Short films 11 currently lists a maximum runtime of 40 minutes.

Current Fee
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 40 minutes
Category

Arthouse 21 to 70 minutes

An Arthouse film, also known as art cinema, is a type of movie that strays from the mainstream commercial path to create a unique artistic expression. These films are typically characterized by their serious, often experimental nature, prioritizing directorial creativity and artistic vision over mass-market appeal. Runtime between 21 minute and 70 minutes.

Current FeeUSD 45.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 70 minutes
Category

Super Short Films

Current Fee
Category

AI Generated Short Films

AI can generate new footage from different perspectives, such as by using AI video generators to pair textual inputs with visual concepts. For example, the some AI video image generators can create 4K video clips based on text descriptions.

Current FeeUSD 40.00Early
Category

Art Films (Experimental)

Experimental film/video art between 1 and 10 minutes. Experimental film, experimental cinema or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms and alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working.

Current FeeUSD 40.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 10 minutes
Category

Animation Short Films

Current Fee
Category

Music Films

A Music Film is a film focused entirely on music, narrative or documentary, and tells a story about a musician, a musical genre or a musical event. These are films that are not Music video but are feature films 60 to 130 minutes in length. they tell the story of a band, music, time frame, etc.

Current FeeUSD 55.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 130 minutes
Category

Music Films Shorts

A Music Film is a film focused entirely on music, narrative or documentary, and tells a story about a musician, a musical genre or a musical event. These are films that are not "Music Video" but are short films 2 to 60 minutes in length. They tell the story of a band, music, time frame, etc.

Current FeeUSD 38.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 60 minutes