YoFiFest, The Yonkers Film Festival

YoFiFest is Your Film Festival! Now in its 10th year, the 2022 YoFiFest Film Festival returns this December to celebrate moving pictures, the people who make them and the people who watch them. Voted by filmmakers as a Top 100 Best Reviewed Festivals on FilmFreeway (NINE TIMES!), YoFiFest was created for filmmakers by filmmakers. Movie Maker Magazine says “what stood out at YoFiFest was the organizers’ obvious respect for the people who craft cinema and video.”

From opening night’s Red Carpet Reception, through our Audience Choice Awards Ceremony on the closing night, YoFiFest is a welcoming and inclusive festival that celebrates filmmakers at every stage of their careers. Our schedule is jam packed with screenings, workshops, panels, networking opportunities and parties that honor and celebrate the independent, artistic spirit from around the world, and right in our own backyard. And it’s run by film, television and audio/visual professionals, ensuring all films receive high quality presentation in actual theaters.

YoFiFest takes the selection process very seriously and is careful to ensure that each movie is reviewed by the screenings committee and programmer, in its entirety, at least three times. We are filmmakers ourselves, and we understand and respect the amount of hard work put into each film. 100% of the films played at our YoFiFest 2021 festival were films selected from FilmFreeway submissions. Out of fairness to all filmmakers who submit to the festival, we don't offer any fee waivers.

We’re grateful we were able to present a LIVE festival in November 2021. We knew our filmmakers were craving the in person experience, so we decided to take every precaution to create a safe, fun festival for everyone. For those who could not or chose not to attend in person, we offered virtual “simulscreens” that allowed those joining remotely to watch the film and join the talkback in real time. All filmmakers were invited to join the talkback in person or remotely.

This year, we plan to be back in downtown Yonkers for our 10th Anniversary as an in-person film festival, with screenings, talkbacks, workshops, photo-ops, networking events, receptions and after-parties. Filmmakers raved about our online social events, so we’ll be bringing back our virtual Meet the Filmmaker Nights, Online (and in Person) Trailer Party, Speed Networking Events, Remote Mix&Mingles and more.

We’ll also continue to host all of our films and workshops as online “simul-screens” so filmmakers and film fans can engage remotely as well. Those joining us remotely will be invited to screen films, attend talkbacks and access all of our workshops, panels and lectures online. Filmmakers who attend in person will receive an All Access VIP pass that allows entry into every screening, workshop, panel, party, networking and social event.

First 10 Pages Screenwriting Contest

Ten Years! Ten Pages! We're celebrating our ten year anniversary by expanding our platform to include screenplays!

Why The First 10 Pages? The first 10 pages are crucial to launching the story, introducing the main character and hooking the audience. They are the foundation that the rest of the script is built on, so they have to be something special. They need to be bold, effective and compelling. Writing them is a daunting task, but we want to recognize you for it!

You can enter your First 10 Pages as either a Feature Film Screenplay or a Web/TV Pilot Script. Awards will be given in each category. In the first round, your First 10 Pages receive coverage by multiple readers and script analysts. The team scores the scripts based on ten professional screenwriting criteria and standards. The readers assign scores of 1 to 10 for each of the following elements: Premise/Concept, Presentation, Structure, Plot, Pacing, Characters,Dialog, Theme, Style/Tone, Commercial Potential. Once the scores are calculated, we announce the Semifinalists and Finalists who will receive laurels, a score sheet, announcement on social media and will be listed on our website. Finalists are moved on to the next round and receive a Full Festival Pass to YoFiFest 2022 where they can mingle and network with filmmakers and professionals.

The Finalists are then judged by our Senior Judging Team of Industry Professionals, who evaluate and score them. The Feature Film First 10 Pages and Web/TV Pilot First 10 Pages with the highest total points will be awarded a Winner recognition certificate presented at our Closing Night Awards Ceremony which will be simulcast live on social media.

Thank you for your interest and we look forward to seeing your work!