Staged for the fifth time, the New York City Independent Film Festival show cased this year from October 15-19 over 254 films from 38 countries covering feature films, documentaries and short films.  Aimed at new, underground and experimental independent filmmakers the NYCIFF has established itself as a festival platform for domestic and foreign independent producers and directors. Panels of more than 100 judges selected  from 1000 submissions 47 features, 132 short films and 75 super short  films.   Productions competed for 10 awards which were received by independent film makers who already had some track records. Apart from the North America participants responsible for most productions screened, 36 countries were represented.  The program included numerous classes and sessions on themes ranging from camera work, acting, distribution, and funding, as well as live shows and receptions.

Judging from comments made by filmmakers and festival staff it seems that virtually all films were submitted primarily through Withoutabox   but also through websites like ClickFor Festivals and others. Submission fees for the productions ranging from $45 - $65 are the principal funding source for the festival; though close to 20% of the fee go to the Wihoutabox service.  Without box is owned by IMDb and both companies are part of amazon com. Apart from ticket sales to the 3250 attendees this year the submission fee appears to be the other principal source of income for NYCIFF.  Service and product contributions were received from partners and supporters from   beverage, food and other companies, including the director’s Cieri International Corporation which supported four awards.  According to Dennis Cieri the festival has been expanding to a larger number of submissions and selections. It involved this year more judges, twenty volunteers and interns, as well as a growing festival staff. Compare to 2013 the audience increased by 46 percent. Given its consolidation the festival‘s goal is now to raise more funds from sponsors and partners.  At one point a festival crowd funding campaign was initiated though it is not active now

Starting around 9 in the morning productions were shown through the late evening hours in six screening rooms at the Producers’ Club and the Adelante Studios attracting only small groups attended during daytime hours, though more were drawn during evening hours and on the weekend.  The ambience was festive with most film makers satisfied with what the festival offered them. There seemed to be a consensus that better independent productions were programmed in this year’s edition. Despite this some observed that by and large current new production scored higher from a technical point of view but that many film makers had a problem narrating their story. As one director observed ”They [the filmmakers] learn in school which camera to use and they do acquire technical skills... but frequently have not developed an appropriate story telling ability”

Talking to associates covering the film scene here I was struck that the NYCIFF had a very low profile; only few were familiar with the fest. Thus I was wondering why independents would submit their productions to the festival. For once they hope but did not seem to expect that a distributor would pick up their film at the festival. To date Gregory Blair’s horror film Deadly Revisions from the 2014 programs has been picked up by SGL Entertainment.  Filmmakers consider the NYCIFF as a marketing tool for reaching a larger audience and creating a buzz for their production.   They also identified the ease of entering their film through Withoutabox which helped them to choose a festival from a list of close to 1000 festivals listed by that service.  More importantly having their film selected for a New York based festival, even if it is relatively unknown, enhances the possibility of getting funding for future projects, a point made by several foreign film makers.  Being in New York is also considered essential for effective networking. Lastly they will be listed with their films in the internet film data base IMDb once they use Withoutabox and be able to apply it for marketing their productions by uploading trailers and full films.   The listing of the film or title page remains on IMDb if the film is eventually released. Through IMDb the associated venture CreateSpace productions can be placed for video downloads on the Amazon Video on Demand service or DVD sales.

Thus from the filmmaker’s perspective, the New York City Independent Film Festival appears to be a viable festival platform to consider.

Claus Mueller          filmexchange@gmail.com