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.

161 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Lasley Lui

    What an amazing event for indie filmmakers! Everything from selection to screening was so smooth and the team was so professional and detailed oriented. I feel blessed to be in the part of the festival.

    April 2025
    Helpful
  • Miguel Angel Hernandez

    Wonderful opportunity! Thanks so much for giving us such a huge window of exposition for our voices.

    April 2025
    Helpful
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Miguel, Thank you so much! We're truly happy to have shared your voice and work with our audience—it means a lot to us!

  • karolien Vanhees

    I am happy to have been part of the online event New Waves. All communication was quick and clear. It was nice that friends and family could enjoy the festival for free. The online event was clear and well-arranged. I am once again very grateful that I was able to be part of this!

    April 2025
    Helpful
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Thank you so much for your lovely message, Karolien! We're really glad you and your loved ones could enjoy the event—it was a pleasure having your film with us!

  • Attila Gall

    Thrilled my film 'SHITSHOW' was an SEMI Finalist at the New York Indie Shorts Awards! The event was excellent and well-organized. Highly recommend submitting!

    April 2025
    Helpful
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Hi Attila, Thank you so much! We're glad you enjoyed the experience and it was a pleasure having SHITSHOW with us. Wishing you continued success!

  • Joana Antonaccio

    Claro! Aqui vai uma sugestão leve e moderna:

    **"Big thanks to [Festival Name] for having our short film! Grateful for the opportunity to share our work and be among such inspiring films and creators."**

    Se quiser algo ainda mais descontraído, tem essa opção:

    So thrilled to have Breach at New York Shorts! Huge thanks for the love and for including us in such an amazing lineup."

    April 2025
    Helpful
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Thank you so much Joanna! We're thrilled to have featured your work—congrats again and all the best on what’s next!