What to Know
- The WFAs were created in 2011 with the goal of showcasing small budget films created by filmmakers from diverse backgrounds.
- This year's festival takes place Feb. 21 - 25th, and includes film screenings, educational seminars, as well as a red carpet awards ceremony.
- To uphold their mission, the WFAs have a thorough recruiting and screening process when deciding which films to highlight, which includes outreach to film communities all over the world.
The Winter Film Awards 12th Annual International Film Festival is underway in New York City -- aiming to highlight filmmakers from diverse backgrounds in an effort to bridge the gap and give them a platform to break into the industry.
The festival kicked off Wednesday and will run until Sunday. It will showcase a total of 82 films across a myriad of genres including animation, comedy, narrative, romance, horror, drama and more.
In its commitment to diversity, around half of the films spotlighted were created by and/or tell stories about underrepresented communities.
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The WFA was founded in 2011 by George Isaacs with the vision of creating a platform for small budget films, made by people from a wide range of backgrounds. In creating this festival, Isaacs hoped to help small filmmakers gain the recognition and agency to propel their filmmaking careers forward, while also giving them the high quality celebration that larger film festivals offer.
As part of the WFA’s dedication to inclusion, it has a thorough recruiting and selection process for submitted films to ensure they are casting a wide net.
NBC New York spoke with Steffanie Finn, the executive director for WFA, who explained exactly how they get the word out. Finn noted that “we advertise in about 400 Facebook groups for filmmakers around the world, and we work with several film-related groups (such as Femme Fatales) and other film festivals in Africa, Asia and South America to reach as many filmmakers as we can.”
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The film festival has a group of 75 judges from around the world who evaluate these submissions, with at least two women and two men watching each entry. Finn explains that “to ensure a bias-free review, judges are provided virtually no information about the films” when evaluating them in 8 different technical categories.
Charlotte Schiøler, a filmmaker from Paris, whose film, Massoui, is being celebrated at this year’s festival notes that the WFAs help her and the other filmmakers gain attention from the press for their films, which in turn helps them further distribute their work.
Schiøler initially heard about the film festival through word of mouth, but she specifically decided to submit Massoui because of the very diverse cast the film features, with actors from Senegal, Congo, Kenya, Morocco, the U.S., France, Switzerland, and Denmark. As a woman filmmaker, Schiøler aimed to create a women-led team for her production, with two-thirds of the department heads, as well as over 50% of the crew being women.
“We hope to continue to increase funding each year so we can bring more filmmakers, more press and more options to our attendees, and to build our resources to increase support for our volunteers… We are proud that we are able to provide them with outstanding networking opportunities and a really fun, friendly, safe and welcoming space.”
Steffanie Finn, Executive Director of the WFA
Steffanie Finn emphasized that the WFA is specifically proud of the education programming their film festival has to offer, and how it aims to set the featured filmmakers up for success after the festival. In this year’s festival, they will be offering six different education sessions that cover an array of topics, including casting protocols, grant writing, and shooting films in New York. The education seminars are free and open to the public, taking place Friday and Saturday.
When discussing the complex logistics of putting together a film festival, Finn praised the loyal team of volunteers who are the backbone to the event and looked forward to what the future of the event holds.
"We hope to continue to increase funding each year so we can bring more filmmakers, more press and more options to our attendees, and to build our resources to increase support for our volunteers," Finn said, adding: "We are proud that we are able to provide them with outstanding networking opportunities and a really fun, friendly, safe and welcoming space."
The film festival consists of five packed days, with events ranging from award ceremonies, to red carpet galas, to question and answer sessions with the filmmakers. The film screenings will take place through Saturday at LOOK Cinemas on W 57th Street. Screening tickets cost $12.50 if purchased in advance, or $16.50 at the door. The awards ceremony, red carpet, and after party take place Sunday at 230Fifth, and is free to the public before 10 pm — advanced registration is required.
