Each year in August, we welcome more than one hundred filmmakers and thousands of audience members to the town of Middlebury, Vermont, offering a dynamic showcase of films from emerging voices in independent film. Dedicated solely to the work of first- and second-time directors and producers, MNFF provides a unique and supportive platform for artists taking their first steps into the world of independent cinema.
We are proud to offer visiting artists a supportive setting in which to meet their peers, connect intimately with audiences and special guests, and participate in workshops, panels and events that advance their craft. Our awards, prizes, and filmmaker grants also offer financial and career support to filmmakers at the starting line of their careers.
Over its first ten years, MNFF has showcased the work of a diverse array of passionate new filmmakers from around the world, working across all genres. Our programming team seeks out compelling and memorable narratives--fiction and nonfiction, features and shorts--that embrace risk-taking and boundary-breaking and that promote and uplift underrepresented communities and stories.
Please join us for the 11th annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, taking place August 20-24, 2025 in beautiful Middlebury, Vermont.
Our festival offers the following awards and prizes:
The VTeddy Award, our coveted and iconic custom made tuxedo-clad Teddy, in the following categories: Best Narrative Feature, Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short, Audience Award-Feature, Audience Award-Short. Accompanying cash award: $500.
The Hernandez/Bayliss Prize for the feature film that best captures the triumph of the human spirit and honors the inspirational power of independent filmmaking. Value: $1000.
The Clio Visualizing History Prize for the Advancement of Women in Film, honoring a woman filmmaker whose feature film boldly portrays the story of a person or events of historical significance. Value: $1000.
The Gaia Prize for Environmental Filmmaking, honoring a feature film with exceptional insights into environmental issues. In recognition of Gaia, Mother Earth in Greek mythology, this award seeks to encourage new filmmakers from around the world to bring widespread attention to global sustainability, environmental justice and climate change concerns. Value: $1000.
The Shouldice Family Prize for Best Vermont-Made Film, honoring a Vermont-based filmmaker whose short or feature length film is of exceptional significance. Value: $1000.
The Kate Hearst Prize, given to a feature or a short film that explores human connectivity in our increasingly interdependent world by revealing vital relationships between individuals, local communities, global collectives and/or species who share our planet. Value: $1000.
The Gamble-Paison Prize for Best International Feature Film, recognizing excellence in feature narrative or documentary filmmaking by a first or second time international director. Value: $1,000.
The Swift House Prize for Best Depiction of the Arts, presented to either a feature or short film that best portrays a story of an artistic creation or endeavor. Value: $1,000.
The Jeanine Basinger Prize for Best Student Film, awarded to a short film created by an enrolled student, undergraduate or graduate, that best demonstrates the art of filmmaking. Films made by an enrolled student, either as part of the academic curriculum or independent of the curriculum, are eligible. Value: $1,000.
The Thaddeus Stevens Prize for Social Engagement, in tribute to the heroic Vermonter, Thaddeus Stevens, who played a decisive role in the abolition of slavery and the establishment of free public schooling in America. Value: $1,000.
The Ralph Steiner Prize for Poetic Cinema, in recognition of the groundbreaking work of pioneering American documentarian and photographer Ralph Steiner. Value: $1,000.
The AICEF Prize for Cross-Cultural Filmmaking, honoring an American filmmaker whose work deftly explores and embraces cross cultural themes, and awarding an all-expenses-paid round trip to screen their film in Indonesia as well as a showcase screening at MNFF. Value: $3,000.
The Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival also offers screening fees to a select group of MNFF feature filmmakers for allowing us to present their work as part of MNFF's popular Vermont Tour, which brings the work to venues around the state. Fees to filmmakers are determined prior to the start of the Tour.