The Northampton Youth Cinema Festival—a revival of the historic 17-year tradition—enters its third year of celebrating young visual storytellers. This student-led relaunch is made possible through a collaboration with the Northampton Arts Council and Northampton Open Media, and is proudly sponsored by Lathrop Communities.

When: Sunday, April 26, 2026 | 6:00 PM

Where: The Workroom, 33 Hawley St, Northampton, MA

Awards & Prizes

The top prize will receive a 6 month membership to Video Visions in downtown Northampton as well as a tote bag from Video Visions. https://www.visionsvideo.org/

Rules & Terms

Age Requirement: All films must be the work of a principal creator (Director, Cinematographer, or Editor) aged 21 or younger. While the full crew may include older collaborators, the primary creative lead must meet the age limit. Films created while the submitter was under 21 remain eligible.

Run Time: Submissions must be under 30 minutes (including credits). Please note: Due to programming constraints, films under 20 minutes have a higher likelihood of selection.

Academic Work: We welcome creativity from the classroom! Films produced for educational assignments are fully eligible.

Originality & Distribution: Films must not have been released on any commercial distribution services prior to submission.

Language: Submissions must be in English or include English subtitles.
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  • Leo Mousseau

    Great up and coming festival. A lot of fun. We felt very welcomed and accommodated. It was pretty small scale, but the screening was high quality and the sound was solid. Be on the lookout for this one as it grows.

    May 2026
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