Our latest Live Event took place at the LOOK cinemas from November 14th till November 17th 2024 in New York city !. It was a total success with fully sold-out screenings !!!! 📽. Thank you to all the participants and guests!🌟 Check our photos above 📸 😀.

Welcome to IMDb qualifying NEW YORK INDIE SHORTS AWARDS.

We enjoyed more than 🌟100🌟 international films, networking cocktails, panels and Q&A's.📽.

Our main goal is to find talented filmmakers from all around the world who stand out for having something to communicate through art and help them promote their work.
Some of our former contestants include Iggy Pop, Pauline Chalamet, Julie Pacino, Kevin Bacon, Oscar nominees Jude Law, Brenda Blethyn, Golden Globe winner Kyra Sedgwick and a new wave of talented directors like Student Academy Award Winners Akanksha Cruczynski, De’Onna “Tree” Young, Curry Sicong Tian, Pilar Garcia-Fernandezesma, Kristen Hwang, Murad Abu Eisheh, Simon Denda, Tribeca winning award director Peter Sluszka, Matthew Modine, Molly Ringwald and so many more.

You can submit your film to any of the Main Categories and/or to the Additional Categories and participate for Cash Prizes.

OFFICIAL SELECTION
Once you submit your film, our international screeners team will watch and review your project. The highest scored films will become finalists and automatically will join the Official Selection with +90 films to be screened at our live event.
The entire Official Selection films will receive the festival laurel. At the end of the live event we will announce all Main Competitions and Additional Categories winners chosen by our Judging Team.
Winners will receive the corresponding Certificate of Achievement and Laurel.
Moreover, we will announce the winner of the AUDIENCE AWARD who will receive a cash prize of USD 1000.

SEMIFINALISTS
In addition, the festival will distinguish a selection of films as semifinalists. All semifinalist projects will be invited to be part of our online event and will receive the corresponding laurel.
All films at our Online Event will compete for the NY NEW WAVES GRAND AWARD, which includes a cash prize of USD 1000.

Awards & Prizes

MAIN CATEGORIES:

NARRATIVE SHORT
FOREIGN SHORT
DOCUMENTARY SHORT
ANIMATION SHORT
NEW FILMMAKERS SHORT
EXPERIMENTAL SHORT
STUDENT SHORT
HORROR SHORT
MUSIC VIDEO
COMEDY SHORT

TECHNICAL AND PERFORMANCE CATEGORIES:

FEMALE DIRECTOR
MALE DIRECTOR
STUDENT DIRECTOR
PRODUCER
ACTRESS
ACTOR
CINEMATOGRAPHY
SCREENWRITING
SCORE & SOUND DESIGN
EDITING

Rules & Terms

1- In order to submit a film, you must own the rights or have permission from the owner.
2- All fees are non-refundable.
3- Any Foreign film that is not in English must have English subtitles.
4- The Festival relationship will exclusively be related to the film submitter.
5- NEW YORK INDIE SHORTS AWARDS will not be responsible for damaged copies.
6- A DCP of the film is required for the Live Event.
7- Not all the submissions are selected for the Official Selection. Our Judges are free to make their own choices and no answers will be given about not selected films.
8- NEW YORK INDIE SHORTS AWARDS can consider any film to be disqualified if the festival considers the content inappropriate. If you have any question regarding this decision you can contact us at our email address: nyc@indieshortsawards.com
9- A fee is required for all the Categories. For payment structure visit FilmFreeway website.
10- The applicants (submitters) must accept NEW YORK INDIE SHORTS AWARDS Rules and Terms.
11- By submitting your movie, you authorize NEW YORK INDIE SHORTS AWARDS to use, distribute and share the film poster, trailer, synopsis and movie stills in our social media.
12- Maximum length allowed is 40 minutes.
13- When submitting your film, you are consenting to our Privacy Policy. We are committed to respecting each filmmaker's preferences. We might contact you through your email or social media provided in the submission page to communicate updates on your submission status, screening and DCP requirements, events ticket confirmation, as well as to provide information about events, services, promotions that we think you might be interested in. You can unsubscribe from any marketing or advertising newsletter from us or any partner festival simply by clicking unsubscribe.
Even when unsubscribing from a marketing newsletter, you can still receive any communication regarding your submission status through the FilmFreeway system. For more information about our associated event, please refer to indieshortsawards.com/newyork. If you need further information, please contact us via nyc@indieshortsawards.com, and we will be happy to help you.

*************************************************************************

🌟 🌟 PITCH THE AUDIENCE AWARD RULES & TERMS 🌟 🌟

Eligibility: The competition is open to filmmakers of all levels, from emerging talents to qualified professionals.
Theme and Format: Submissions can be from any genre or subject matter. The presentation should be concise, engaging, and provide a clear overview of the project. The format must be in .mp4 or .mov, 1998x1080, in 2k resolution.
Duration: The video presentation should not exceed 2 minutes in length.
Language: Presentations can be in any language. However, if the language is not English, English subtitles must be provided.
Originality: Submissions must be original works by the filmmakers or their team.
Submission Process: Filmmakers are required to submit their video presentations through our official submission platform, FilmFreeway.
Selection Process: The programming team will review all submissions and select the most compelling presentations for the Live Event.
Live Event: The selected presentations will be screened during our Live Event, where the jury and the audience will vote for their favorite project.
Grant Award: The project that emerges as the winner will be awarded a grant of USD 3500. It is important to note that the project should be finished within a time frame of 18 months from the moment the grant is received. Additionally, it is required to include the support of Indie Shorts Awards and display their logo in the opening credits of the film.
Rights: Filmmakers retain all rights to their projects. However, by submitting their project, filmmakers grant New York Indie Shorts Awards the right to screen their video during the Live Event.
140 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Jay Marks

    Great festival! Sold out screenings in a nice theater and thoughtful Q&As.

    January 2025
    Helpful
  • John Hegarty

    It was such a pleasure to be part of this festival! The team at the New York Indie Shorts Awards made it an unforgettable night when my short film was screened. An excellent line-up of short films were played each night and the venue was perfect! A festival that I would recommend to everybody!
    - John Hegarty

    January 2025
    Helpful
  • Kermis Batista

    This festival was a refreshing experience—a space where cinema felt alive with purpose and possibility. The selection of shorts was outstanding, spanning genres, moods, and budgets, yet each film brought something unique to the table - films I was proud to have my work shown alongside.

    Each director was given their own individual Q&A session - thoughtful discussions driven by well-crafted questions from the NY ISA staff, creating a real sense of engagement with the filmmakers.

    The selected theater was an ideal setting, adding to the atmosphere for what turned out to be a lovely weekend.

    I can’t wait to return and be part of it all again.

    December 2024
    Helpful
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Kermis, Thank you so much for your incredible feedback! We’re so glad to hear that you had such a refreshing and engaging experience at the festival. It’s wonderful to know that the variety of films, the Q&A sessions, and the theater setting contributed to making the weekend memorable for you.

    We’re honored to have had your work shown alongside such talented filmmakers, and we’re already looking forward to having you back at future editions of the festival!

  • Esther Casas Roura

    What a Great experience! :)

    This festival has just good quality films, I feel honored they included my latest film work in this year's line up. The experience comes also from having the best festival members, they are sweet, very welcoming and make you feel like home. Highly recommend having your work there.
    I will definitely submit again my next films.

    Gracias!! Esther.

    December 2024
    Helpful
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Dear Esther, Thank you so much for your heartfelt message! We’re thrilled to hear that you had such a positive experience with our festival and that you felt so welcome. It was an honor to showcase your latest film, and we truly appreciate your kind words about our team.

  • ATELIER ORLANDO

    It was such a good atmosphere and beautiful event. Everyone was so friendly and talented. We enjoyed the networking and the Q&A as well a lot. Thank you!

    December 2024
    Helpful
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Suzie!!!!Thank you so much for your kind words! We’re delighted to hear that you enjoyed the atmosphere and the event. It was a pleasure to have such talented and friendly filmmakers like you join us. We’re so glad you found the networking and Q&A sessions valuable as well.