GREENWICH VILLAGE — A group of filmmakers and cinephiles are calling attention to "emerging filmmakers with low budgets and no connections" with a film festival at Cinema Village, kicking off this weekend.
The Winter Film Awards Indie Film Festival, now in its fifth year, will feature informative discussions, parties, an award show and screenings. This year’s lineup features 86 films from 26 countries, including several student films and many first-time directors.
“Diverse, exciting low budget films are created all over the world. It is critical for film festivals to showcase them,” said WFA founder George Isaacs.
But they’re “so often ignored,” Isaacs said — which is why he turned to a friend, Steffanie Finn, to help launch the first WFA festival five years ago.“He really thought it was very unfair,” said Finn, now the executive director of the nonprofit that produces the festival.
"You had to know somebody or have a celebrity in your film or have a lot of money or nobody would notice you."
The judges who review the entrants are given very little information about the films’ origins, and are asked to consider it “just straight out, do you like it or not?”
The submissions are diverse by design: Finn and Isaacs make a point of advertising the festival widely to draw “a really interesting mixture of films.”
“They are films by the little guys, so they are low budget,” Finn said. “But they’re all great.”
This year’s selections include a “hilarious but scary and just beautifully shot” feature from Mexico, an afternoon of animated films for just $5, a double-feature of “weird, way out-there” films from Ethiopia and Japan, and a “really, really beautiful” love story from Cameroon.
“The judges really cried over that one,” Finn said.
Cinema Village will also host discussions led by an award-winning sound designer who will give advice on doing sound in a low-budget film, and people from the mayor’s and governor’s offices, to give pointers on the tax benefits of filming in the state, how to get a permit and when you need a police officer on your location shoot, for example.
In previous years, WFA has screened films at a private theater. But when that theater closed, Cinema Village came to their rescue.
“They were really nice to us,” Finn said. “They gave us a really nice deal and have just gone way our of their way to take care of us and make sure we have everything we need.”
WFA is a minority- and women-run non-profit, and while their applicant pool is that way by design, their organization was not, Finn said.
“It just kind of happened,” she said. “I guess we have a very multi-ethnic group of friends.”
“It’s New York,” she added. “Our team is definitely a New York team.”
The festival schedule can be viewed and tickets can be purchased online. The Village Alliance is also giving away a few free tickets to some of the screenings.
