CELEBRATE DIVERSITY IN FILM #WFA2021 #WFASoDiverse
TENTH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL | SEPTEMBER 23-OCTOBER 2 2021
Emerging Filmmakers – All Genres – All Lengths | Documentary, Narrative, Horror, Music Video, Animation and Web Series!
INDIE FILMMAKERS … Do you have an awesome film, music video or web series? Celebrate Diversity in Film with New York City’s WINTER FILM AWARDS!
Over $75,000 in Cash, Prizes & Distribution Opportunities! We seek creative fresh voices from emerging filmmakers worldwide in all genres and lengths – feature length and shorts, narrative fiction, documentary, animation, horror, web series and music videos.
WFA2021 CALL FOR ENTRIES
Over $75,000 in Cash, Prizes & Distribution Opportunities!
New York, NY (June 1 2020): The Winter Film Awards International Film Festival (WFA) announces a Call for Entries for its 10th Annual celebration of independent film, to be held September 23-October 2, 2021 in New York City. Filmmakers from around the world will travel to NYC to attend the Festival’s ten days of film screenings, educational panels, professional development workshops and industry networking after-parties, which will conclude with a glittering awards ceremony to be held on October 2, 2021.
The rapidly growing Festival seeks a diverse collection of creative indie films from NYC and worldwide in all genres – ranging from narrative features to short films, from documentaries to animation, and from music videos to web series and horror films. Outstanding work will be awarded for each category, along with Best Director, Best Actor/Actress, Best Student Film and the NY Perspectives Award for best depiction of the New York multi-cultural experience. For the 2020 Festival, 79 films from 27 countries were selected for screening, including 50% made by women, 53% made by or about people of color and 21 first-time directors. Works of all genres, forms, and lengths are considered for Festival screening, and all selected films are screened at NYC’s top indie cinema.
Milestone Dates are as follows:
October 16, 2020 … Early Bird Submissions Deadline
April 27, 2021 … Regular Submissions Deadline
May 28, 2021 … Late Submissions Deadline
June 21, 2021 … Entrants to be notified of final decisions
September 23, 2021 … Festival Opening Night Celebration
September 24 – October 1, 2021 … Screenings, Discussion Panels & Networking After-Parties
October 2, 2021 … Gala Red Carpet & Awards Ceremony
COVID-19 NOTICE: Winter in September? Winter Film Awards is dedicated to hosting a live in-person event and we have decided to wait until New York City reopens for our 10th anniversary Festival. Tentative dates for WFA21 are September 23-October 2. No one can be sure what the world will be like by next summer; we do not know if our venues will be open, we do not know if our sponsors will still be available, we do not know if people will be able or willing to go out. Due to the uncertainty, we have cut our submission fees in half and have extended the submission period.
Steffanie Finn, WFA Executive Director says “At Winter Film Awards, we believe everyone deserves a fair shot at getting their voices heard and we make an enormous effort to provide a careful bias-free selection process. Emerging filmmakers with low budgets and no connections are so often ignored in favor of the standard big budget generic action films – exciting low-budget films are created all over the world; we need the opportunity to actually see them! “
Winter Film Awards is honored to partner with a large variety of local and international sponsors, including FinalDraft, Rosco, Jungle Software and IndiePix. Filmmakers are awarded over $75k in prizes, including software, equipment, distribution deals and other goodies. Since publicity is critical for an emerging artist, the Festival provides each film an SEO enhanced website page, films over 15 minutes get a written review and all attending filmmakers are interviewed on camera.
Winter Film Awards is an all-volunteer women and minority-run 501(c)3 organization founded in 2011, which celebrates diversity of local and international filmmaking. It was built with the dream of making diverse indie film more accessible to the public and providing driven, talented artists the opportunity to break through competitive barriers to establish meaningful careers in film. The focus is on showcasing emerging filmmakers from every age, ethnic, racial, religious, cultural, political and geographic perspective while providing a stepping stone for all filmmakers, from students with blossoming careers to established industry veterans, to screen their work in front of a large audience and gain recognition for their achievements.
For more information about Winter Film Awards events and sponsors, visit www.WinterFilmAwards.com.
For more information about the Winter Film Awards judging process, visit our FAQ.
For more information about last year’s Festival, including Press Information, visit our 2020 Festival page.
