Winter Film Awards proudly unveils 2023 International Film Festival Official Artwork

New York City’s 11th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival (WFA-IFF) runs February 16-25 2023, and showcases creative fresh voices from emerging filmmakers worldwide in all genres and lengths – feature length and short, narrative fiction, documentary, animation, horror, web series and music videos. WFA-IFF’s mission is to promote diversity, bridge the opportunity divide and provide a platform for under-represented artists and a variety of genres, viewpoints and approaches; only by seeing others’ stories can we understand each other and only via an open door can the underrepresented artist enter the room.

The 73 Official Selections are a diverse mixture of animated films, documentaries, dramas, comedies, horror films, music videos, and web series of all lengths. These include 9 student films and 18 first-time filmmakers. Filmmakers come from 21 countries; half of the films were created by women, half created by or about people of color. Tickets and details are available at https://winterfilmawards.com/wfa2023

About Azailia Pope

Azailia Pope is a 19-year-old New York City native from the Bronx. She graduated from the High School of Art and Design where she studied Graphic Design. Inspired by her father who is an Art Director and other forms of media like Anime, Video Games, and Cartoons, Azailia has been creating art all her life.

As Azailia got older she realized a lot of TV and movies don’t do Black women justice – presenting them solely as mean, sassy or angry. This is an outdated stereotype that has hurt the Black community such that even Black people can be upset if Black women don’t act like that. Azailia wants to change this narrative through her art and says “we are human just like you with feelings, drive, and goals.”

Her main focus is character design and digital painting and she also has passion in theatre, fashion, makeup, hair styling, painting, and singing. Growing up in the Bronx and changing schools often gave her a lot of interesting experiences, including a sense of adaptability and finding new ways to find beauty in a new environment.
Currently, Azailia is growing her craft as an artist. Visit her Etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/CitrusCenter or Instagram @dr.sunflow3r.

About Winter Film Awards

Winter Film Awards is an all-volunteer, minority and women-owned registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2011 in New York City by a group of filmmakers and enthusiasts. Winter Film Awards programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.