Bowery Film Festival

The Bowery Film Festival is one of the top independent film festivals in NYC dedicated to discovering a new wave of renegade filmmakers creating raw, gritty, funny, and bombastic art in one of the most culturally rich and trendy neighborhoods in New York City. Our mission is simple: to showcase works from filmmakers of all walks of life regardless of gender, race, age, creed, sexual orientation, or political affiliation and provide them with a platform to jumpstart their careers and take them to the next level.

In 2019, BFF was mentioned in the New York Times for its radical opening night party at the hip Katra Lounge on the Bowery. New York Magazine says that we provide “great opportunities for aspiring filmmakers to network and establish street cred over booze… with radical lineups and local flavors.” HoneySuckle Magazine agrees “an incredible night of groundbreaking, heartbreaking, and hilarious films… remaining true to its Bowery roots and foraging ahead in new territory – exactly what the festival’s namesake neighborhood is known for.” Finally, NY1’s Emmy-Award winning reporter Cheryl Wills noted in a live coverage, the “Bowery Film Festival is hot on movies that are adventurous and have shock value.”

Located in one of the oldest thoroughfares in NYC, the Bowery is known by its singular namesake where world-renowned artists have lived, created and thrived…The Bowery also marked the eastern border of the "Five Points" slum popularized in the movie Gangs of New York. Home to Martin Scorsese, William Burroughs, and the Punk Rock Scene, the Bowery is one of the great highways of humanity, a highway of seething life, varied interests, fun, diverse culture, art, and rock-and-roll.

Bowery Film Festival hosts live screening events in movie theaters, unique spaces and historical venues on the Bowery along with Q&A with filmmakers and the opportunity to network at our opening and closing night parties. We have over $20,000 in total prizes and the bragging rights of having screened on the Bowery!

**Please note festival dates are subject to change without advance notice**