UPDATE ON MARCH 13, 2020:
The New York State Writers Institute at the University at Albany is postponing its inaugural Albany Film Festival, scheduled for March 28, as an appropriate precaution related to COVID-19 and coronavirus containment protocol with guidance from UAlbany, county and state health experts, and government officials. We plan to reschedule the Albany Film Festival for the spring of 2021, retaining the selected short films and other elements, while refocusing our energies to make it an even stronger community event next year.
More at https://www.nyswritersinstitute.org/
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Every film begins with a story, and storytelling in the filmmaking process is the essence of the New York State Writers Institute’s Albany Film Festival.
This annual spring event is a natural outgrowth of the Writers Institute’s mission to be one of the nation’s preeminent literary presenting organizations. We host filmmakers and screen films that explore the craft of diverse storytelling in cinema, foster a deeper understanding of social justice and celebrate the human experience in all its dimensions.
The Festival includes in-depth panel discussions and how-to workshops with writers, screenwriters, filmmakers and film industry professionals, film critics and authors who have adapted their books into films. The program provides an intensive immersion into the intersection between writing and filmmaking.
Full-length and short film screenings of new work from aspiring student filmmakers to acclaimed directors will be shown, along with conversations and Q&As that encourage audience participation. Classic films will also be part of the Festival, augmenting the Writers Institute’s long-running and highly regarded Classic Film Series.
The forum for the Festival is the University at Albany, an academic institution that is one of the most diverse public research universities in the country, with 18,000 undergraduate and graduate students.
Since 1983, the Writers Institute has been the place where readers, writers and filmmakers meet. The Albany Film Festival expands and continues those conversations.
Audiences will vote on the best short films shown during the festival. Votes will be tallied and winners will be announced at the conclusion of the festival on March 28, 2020.
Awards/Certificates and monetary prizes will also be given out for the following awards:
Best Overall Short Film--$500
Best Overall Student Short Film--$300
Best Comedic Short Film--$150
Best Dramatic Short Film--$150
Best Experimental Short Film--$150
Best Documentary Short Film--$150