The Easthampton Film Festival celebrates the work of emerging filmmakers in New England and around the world, with a particular focus on celebrating local talent and themes. We screen documentaries and narrative films, features and shorts. Filmmakers are encouraged to attend and participate in talkbacks.
Our focus is to have a great time, and we want to leave filmmakers and audiences alike with the warm feeling that they are a part of something really special. We host screenings, talkbacks, panels, workshops, networking events, and parties, and in 2024 we had a concert in which the titular band from one of the feature films we screened blew the roof off. It's been a little different every year - we started in 2022 - but we're always striving to create an incredibly personal, inspiring festival experience.
Nestled around a little lake at the bottom of Mt. Tom, local lore has it that Easthampton was the inspiration for Dr. Seuss's Whoville from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" With our many local farms, breweries, and dispensaries, however, some think The Shire of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth is a more apt comparison. Either way, it's a pleasant place to visit in the springtime, and (if we do say so ourselves) an excellent setting for an independent film festival.
In 2025 we awarded Best Documentary, Best Local Film, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, and Best of Fest. Winners in each category received a custom-made ceramic trophy - this past season, it was a planter containing an (edible) sweet bay laurel plant! The awards are likely to evolve somewhat from season to season.
