LEFT: COURTESY OF MIAMI JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL; RIGHT: PHOTO BY PETER EISENHAURE; OPPOSITE: PHOTO BY CAMILLE LENAIN
MOVIEMAKER.COM SPRING 2020 45around, offering hikes, bike rides,
beach excursions, and sail boat trips.
This is one of the more elite getaway
spots in America, and you’ll likely
catch yourself saying, Wait—is that...?
Yes! She has a little cottage here.MIAMI JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
MIAMI, FLORIDA / JANUARY 14-28, 2021 /
MIAMIJEWISHFILMFESTIVAL.ORG
Over 50 international moviemak-
ers attended the Miami Jewish
Film Festival this past January, all
expenses paid. This 13-day event
takes place at 14 different venues
across greater Miami, so the festival
staff are very attentive in swiftly
shuttling around all of these guest
moviemakers. It’s well-known as an
important launching pad for Israeli
films stateside. MJFF is the first
Jewish film festival in the world to
offer juried cash prizes—and this
festival goes above and beyond to
impress potential attendees.MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL
MILL VALLEY, CALIFORNIA / OCTOBER 8-18,
2020 / MVFF.COM
2020 is a big year for MVFF: Its Mind
The Gap Gender Equity Initiative
has set the goal that half of the films
in this fall’s program should be
directed by women. The non-profit
California Film Institute has run the
Mill Valley Film Festival for the last
43 years. Communications manager
Leah LoSchiavo notes that the fest
“has earned its reputation as a ‘film-
maker’s festival’ by celebrating the
best in American, independent, and
world cinema alongside high-profile
and prestigious award contenders.”
The last 40-plus years certainly back
up Leah’s assertions. Previous mas-
terclasses at the fest have included
Laura Dern, Catherine Hardwicke,
and Sir Ian McKellen, and guests
have also included Moonlight direc-
tor Barry Jenkins and Ford v Ferrari
director James Mangold. Huey Lewis
and the News and Jarvis Cocker have
performed at prior fests.NANTUCKET FILM FESTIVAL
NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS / JUNE
23-29, 2020 /NANTUCKETFILMFESTIVAL.ORG
In 2020, NFF will celebrate 25 years
as one of the most magical summer
festivals in the country. A carefully
run, thoughtfully programmed festi-
val, it’s well known for its signatureevents. This year it will honor
screenwriter Eric Roth for his work
on Forrest Gump, A Star Is Born,
Munich, and more. It offers help
with travel and lodging, including
a homestay exchange program, and
draws distributors like Showtime,
Vice, and Boston’s powerhouse PBS
station, WGBH. In addition to three
awards, it offers a bevy of cash prizes
and creative live events that range
from podcast tapings to staged
readings. And if that wasn’t enough,
board members include powerhouse
father-son duo Jerry and Ben Stiller.NASHVILLE FILM FESTIVAL
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE /
OCTOBER 1-7, 2020 /
NASHVILLEFILMFESTIVAL.ORG
You can’t walk down the street with-
out hearing incredible musicians
in Nashville, and for a few glorious
days in October, movies give music
a run for its money. NashFest hands
out 19 awards, all of which include
a cash prize, and the festival wel-
comes major distributors like HBO,
Netflix, and Fox Searchlight. Its Cre-
ators Conference is a two-day event
that last year offered a conversation
with HBO executives, a panel on
sustainable film sets, and a panel on
women moviemakers. There’s also
help with travel and lodging. And
it hosts a screenwriting competi-
tion with a long list of categories
and awards, highlighting features,
shorts, and pilots from Tennessee.
We could go on and on about how
much fun you’ll have rollicking
through Nashville, but we don’t
think anyone needs convincing.NEW HAMPSHIRE FILM FESTIVAL
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE /
OCTOBER 15-18, 2020 / NHFILMFESTIVAL.COM
The festival is celebrating its 20th
anniversary this year (congratula-
tions!)—and there are many reasons
for its staying power. “The city is
the best possible location for a film
festival, ever. We don’t think when
it was settled in 1623 they had
NHFF in mind, but the layout of
downtown Portsmouth couldn’t be
better suited for it,” says execu-
tive director Nicole Gregg. Robert
Eggers, whose film The Lighthouse
made its regional debut here last
year, says he loves to screen in this
charming seaside town, which
balances state-of-the-art screening
venues with quaint local shops. The
many gatherings include a dockside
hospitality party and penthouse
brunch looking out at breathtaking
views of the harbor and city. The
prizes include expenses-paid trips
to New York City for a meeting with
Oscilloscope Laboratories and a
similar trip to meet with Factory 25.
Other highlights include a three-day
young-filmmakers workshop for
moviemakers ages 14 to 18. It also
boasts the heaviest award in the
film industry: a 15-plus-pound prize
made of granite brick in honor of
the Granite State.NEW ORLEANS FILM FESTIVAL
NEW ORLEANS,
LOUISIANA / OCTOBER 14-21, 2020 /
NEWORLEANSFILMFESTIVAL.ORG
The New Orleans Film Festival
could draw a crowd just by be-
ing in one of the world’s mostwondrous cities, but it does so
much more. It offered more than
$150,000 in prizes last year,
schedules a healthy selection of
open-to-the-public panels, and has
a programming team that reflects
the beautiful character and diver-
sity of New Orleans. The festival is
proud to program at least 90% of
its lineup directly from submis-
sions, and last year had more
than 5,700 from which to use.
Over 80% of the films come from
people of color, women, or gender-
non-conforming filmmakers.
The few curated films are mostly
awards-season prestige titles the
fest works with distributors to
secure. Last year the fest drew 19
distributors, and it also helps set
up interviews with an impressive
array of media outlets. Last year’s
festival was special because it
celebrated a fresh New Orleans
star: 19-year-old Phillip Youmans’
Burning Cane was the Centerpiece
Film, and made its Southern
premiere at the Orpheum Theater
to a crowd of over 1,000 people.
The film was shot in and around
New Orleans and had a locally-
based cast and crew, and Youmans
received a key to the city.OAK CLIFF FILM FESTIVAL
DALLAS, TEXAS / JUNE 4-7, 2020 /
FILMOAKCLIFF.COM
Entering its ninth year, Oak Cliff
Film Festival is devoted to its movie-
makers—offering plenty of help with
travel and lodging—and top-notch
programming. Hosted in one of the
oldest neighborhoods in Dallas, the(^) NEW ORLEANS