Manhattan Film Festival

The Manhattan Film Festival (MFF) is an annual film festival that was founded in 2006 by filmmakers: Philip J. Nelson and Jose Ruiz, Jr and is currently operated by Mr. Nelson and a team of filmmakers, journalists and exhibitors. It was originally founded as the Independent Features Film Festival. MFF is an annual event held at such venues as Symphony Space, Quad Cinema, the Academy Theater at Lighthouse in addition to smaller venues like the Producers Club and the Hunter College Lang Auditorium, where the festival holds its closing awards ceremony.

In 2012, the Manhattan Film Festival was named 25 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee: 2012 by MovieMaker Magazine. In response to increased submissions, the festival expanded its program from just under 150 selections to 163 in 2013.

Festival mission

According to the festival's press materials: The goal of the Manhattan Film Festival has always been to help independent filmmakers find an audience for their work and connect with like minded individuals in the indie film community. Every year, the festival works to program a diverse film lineup ranging from student filmmakers and first time directors/actors to the industry's most accomplished talent.

To further support the independent film community in New York, the festival offers a widely popular revenue sharing program through their affiliate sponsor ScreenBooker, a rarity with most American film festivals and one of the features of MFF that accounted for its inclusion on multiple "Top Fests" lists, including two lists from MovieMaker Magazine.

Notable historical incidents

MFF vs. Tribeca Film Festival lawsuit

In July 2010, Manhattan Film Festival founders Philip Nelson and Jose Ruiz filed a lawsuit against the Tribeca Film Festival for theft of their innovative interactive concepts. Nelson said in a statement regarding the suit that he was "absolutely devastated" to discover Tribeca had launched its own virtual festival. "We have put our lives into building a platform that will level the playing field for independent film-makers," he said. "We trusted and looked up to Tribeca as a leader in the industry. Never did I think they would use our time, labour, skill, money, effort, and creativity for their gain."

The Full Circle Incident - 2013

During the festival's June 2013 season (year 7), the festival became the center of controversy in the indie film world when it kicked filmmaker Solvan Naim out of the lineup, several days before his film FULL CIRCLE was supposed to screen. While the circumstances surrounding the removal of the film are convoluted at best, the event sparked aggressive response from websites like indiewire.com, where the author, a representative of the Tribeca Film Festival, questions the purpose of having boutique festivals. It was later discovered that the more critical articles, like the piece published on Indiewire.com, was authored by a representative of the Tribeca Film Festival, one of MFF's rivals.

Notable films and awards

• The festival created the Buzz Award in 2007, presenting it to Apostles of Park Slope. The filmmaker, Jason Cusato went on to form the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, one of the most popular independent film festivals in New York City.
• In 2011, the festival screened White Irish Drinkers, a film written and directed by John Gray. He is the creator of Ghost Whisperer, a CBS television series starring Jennifer Love Hewitt.
• 2011, Jeff Stewart won Best Actor for his role in Under Jakob's Ladder. He is best known in the United Kingdom for his role as Reg Hollis in the ITV series The Bill. His win at the festival inspired stories in the British media, ranging from The Sun to the BBC. Stewart even got a story in the New York Times as The Chelsea Guest Who Wouldn't Leave when the Hotel Chelsea abruptly closed its doors in 2011.
• In 2012 the Film Heals Award was presented to a number of films, including Dreams Are Not Forgotten by Nigel Barker.
• In 2012 the festival introduced the New York Spotlight Award, a recognition given to a locally made film that features New York City in a compelling and inspiring way. The first recipient was filmmaker Eric Norcross for his film Caroline of Virginia. Eric went on to work with the festival in their 2013 season.
• In 2013 the New York Spotlight Award was given to two films: On The Radioman, which was received by Radioman himself and If These Knishes Could Talk.
• In 2013, Yuck! A 4th Grader's Documentary About School Lunch was screened at the festival. A 20-minute documentary by 11-year-old, Zachary Maxwell. As a student at P.S. 130 in Little Italy, Maxwell documented the less-than-appetizing school lunches. This documentary won the festival's Buzz Award. He was interviewed by such outlets as Good Morning America and the New York Times.

Awards

Film Festival 2015

• A Box Came to Brooklyn
• A Day’s Work
• All The Days
• Amontillado
• Bar Songs
• Behind The Mirror
• Catching Fireflies
• Clipped Wings They Do Fly
• Failure Groupies
• For Francis
• Frog
• Get Happy!
• Glory Daze: the Life and Times of Michael Alig
• Grandpa’s Debtor
• Hello, My Name is Frank…
• I Dream Too Much
• Illogo
• Jet
• Joe’s Dairy
• Joe’s War
• Leaving Circadia
• Lilith’s Song
• Lost Penny
• Love for Passion
• My Brother’s Girlfriend
• My Brother’s Keeper
• New Generation Queens: a Zanzibar soccer story
• Office Confessions
• Ovum
• Prego
• Queen Mimi
• Quietus
• Randy Doe
• Reflections
• Save the Putnam Nature Trail
• Schnitzel
• Shaded Reflections - Best Original Title Song
• Simpler Times
• Stuck in Traffick
• Summit
• That Bites!
• The Apple Tree
• The Shattered Mind
• The Three Es
• Ty’s List
• Wedgerino
• West 4th Street: A Portrait of a Park
• Why I’m Not on Facebook
• Writer’s Cramp
• Zizi & Honeyboy

Film Festival 2014

• Film Heals Awards (feature) - Transforming Loss, Colors: Banging in S.C.',A People Without a Land
• Film Heals Awards (short) - A Life with Asperger's, ML4: A rare and Devastating Disease
• New York Spotlight Award - Empire Gypsy
• Buzz Award - The Hardest Love
• Film Preservation Award - Dollar Night
• Best International Picture - Living Legends
• Best Short Narrative - Water Dogs
• Best Comedic Short - Bingo Night!, Mani-Pedi
• Best Musical Feature - Waiting in the Wings
• Best Musical Short - Naked
• Best Feature Documentary - David & Me
• Best Alternative Short - Reflecting Adrien
• Best Alternative Feature - Before
• Best Sci-Fi Feature - Plato’s Reality Machine
• Best Family Drama - Lies I Told My Little Sister
• Best Comedy Feature Films - Chasing Taste, The Yank, Chu & Blossom
• Best Coming of Age Feature - The Backseat
• Best Children Short - Lunchbox Loser
• Best Dramatic Feature - The Living
• Best Original Title Song - “Wisdom” by Siobhan Magnus - The Wisdom to Know the Difference
• Best Short Docs - Dollar Night
• Film Preservation Award - Being George, Spoke: A Short Film About NYC Bikes
• Best Historic Feature - Searching for Camelot
• Best Biography Short - Crisalida
• Best International Thriller - Red Gold
• Best Dramatic Thriller - Dutch Kills
• Best Romantic Feature - Janie Charasmanic
• Best Social Issue Feature Narrative - Snapshot
• Best Social Issue Short Narrative - Park 51
• Best Family Short - The Devil Goes Down
• Best Sports Feature - Off the Floor
• Best Crime Drama - West End
• Best Personal Narrative - Wallabout
• Best Art Short - The Wreck
• Best Horror Short - Lucas Cain
• Best Thriller Short - Penance
• Best Feature Film Narrative - The Wisdom To Know The Difference

Film Festival 2013

• Film Heals - The Second Cooler, Sugar, Uprising, and Where Should The Birds Fly
• New York Spotlight Award - On The Radioman and If These Knishes Could Talk
• Buzz Award - Yuck! A 4th Grader's Documentary About School Lunch
• MFF Prestige Award - My Life as Abraham Lincoln
• Best Comedic Short - Local Commercial
• Best Dramatic Short - Tinker and The Firebird
• Best Action Short - Round Trip
• Best Crime Short -
• Best Children's Short - : The Last Prank
• Best Comedic Feature - Isn't It Delicious
• Best Dramatic Feature - The Word
• Best Adventure Film - The Legend of Jimi Lazer
• Best Alternative Feature - Butterflies of Bill Baker
• Best Crime Feature - American Bomber
• Best Coming of Age Film - Buffalo Boys
• Best Family Film - Surviving Family
• Best Editing - Hope's Portal
• Best Art Direction - Man Vs. Ultraman
• Best Special Achievement in Production - Somebody Marry Me
• Honorable Mentions - Palace Living, Desistance, The Word Trader, Papa, A Perfect Day, A Mother's Love, Two Hours In The Dark, Forbidden Fruit, The Beginning and the End, Two Hundred Thousand Dirty, Little Brother, Thursday's Speaker.

Film Festival 2012

• Film Heals Award - Born for the Stage, Dreams are Not Forgotten, Roadmap to Aparthied
• Best New Actor - Nora
• Best Musical - Welcome to Harlem
• Best Music Video - Bad Intentions
• Best Short Documentary - Up and Down
• Best International Feature - A 7 Hour Difference
• Best International Short - Little King
• Best Comedic Short - The Bunglers
• Buzz Award - Celeste
• New York Spotlight - Caroline of Virginia
• Best Dramatic Short - A Father's Pride
• Best Horror Short - Melissa!
• Best Period Piece - Spirits of Saint Paul
• Best Comedic Feature - Worth the Weight
• Best Feature Screenplay - Eye of the Hurricane
• Best Short Screenplay - Hearts Gamble
• Best Dramatic Feature - Hitting the Cycle

Film Festival 2011

• Best Dramatic Feature - White Irish Drinkers
• Best International Feature - The Wedding Party
• Best Period Piece - Under Jakob's Ladder
• Best Comedy Feature - The Three Way
• Best Feature Documentary - Fordson: Faith, Fasting, Football
• Best Short - Hard to Come By
• Best Student Film - Made Off
• Buzz Award - AppleBox
• Best Actor - Jeff Stewart in Under Jakob's Ladder
• Best Actress - Juliette Bennett in The Couple
• Best Composer - Keith Patchel in Crumble
• Emerging Filmmaker Award - Nazim Uddin

Film Festival 2010

• Film Heals Award - Into the Gloom
• Best International Film - Venezzia
• Audience Choice Award for Best Comedy - The Apostles of Park Slope
• Best Actress - Tabrett Bethell in Anyone You Want

External links

• Manhattan Film Festival – Official Site