Categories and Fees
Categories and Fees
New York World Film Festival 2021
Due to covid-19 pandemic NYWFF 2021 took place online from April 30th to May 2nd, 2021.
NYWFF Award Winners 2021
Best Narrative Short - Inhale, dir. Nasser Zamiri
Best Documentary Short - The Romey Lynchings: A Story of Lebanese Immigrants, dir.Josh Sabey
Best Experimental Short - Dirt, dir. Helanius J. Wilkins, Roma Flowers
Best Student Film - Midnight Movie: Magnum Opus, dir. Myriam Khammassi
Honorable Mention (Student) - Coming to Light, dir. Hector Bell
Best Micro Short - Amparo’s Offerings, dir. Leonel Chee
Honorable Mention (Mirco Short) - Convergence, dir. Samuel G. Davey
Best First-Time Director - Shimmer Summer, dir. Tong Mao
Best Young Director (18 y.o. and under) - Captive, dir. Philippe Vanasse-Paquet
NYWFF Nominations 2021
Narrative Short
In the Company of Crows - Rachel S. Thomas-Medwid
The Way To Snow - Fong Win
Inhale - Nasser Zamiri
The Set-Up - Malika Pellicioli
Experimental Short
Dirt - Helanius J. Wilkins, Roma Flowers
Bella - Sarah Stolar, Seth D. Meyers
Shivering wall - Tseng Yu Chin
Student Short
Empty Spaces - Clara Stephanie Schieber Lorenes
Midnight Movie : Magnum Opus - Myriam Khammassi
Coming to Light - Hector Bell
Documentary Short
The Hill Witches of Nevada County - Rick Beaty
The Romey Lynchings: A Story of Lebanese Immigrants - Josh Sabey
The River That Flows Both Ways - Kirk Muir Horton, Brendan P. Davis
Micro Short
ROMAN CANDLES - Kevin V. Doan
The Assassination of a Man - Daniel Riser
Convergence - Samuel G. Davey
Amparo’s Offerings - Leonel Chee
First-Time Director
Shimmer Summer - Tong Mao
Let the World go on Sleeping - Michael Charles Slavich
Young Directors
(18 y.o. and Under)
Distortion (Verzerrung) - Samuel J Punto
CAPTIVE - Philippe Vanasse-Paquet
PIMPLES - Jack Kendall
NYWFF Official Selections 2021
Narrative Short
Matty Boy - Dr Shahid Kamal
Frank - Luna Alaina
Double Exposure - Daryl Getman
Horn - Ghasideh Golmakani
Experimental Short
ONE1 - Annie Y. Hui
Planet M in Outer Space - Peter Meng
Anxiety 0.60 - Vicente Mínguez Muñoz
"Realeyes" - Mimi Garrard
Student Short
Double Protection - Jacqui Bril Ruberto
Mammoth - Jiamin Huang
Surrendering Nina - Jeremy Jung
Sempiternal - Maya Alfreds
Documentary Short
Reclamation: The Rise at Standing Rock - Michele Noble
Slick Willy - Derek Goulet
REYNA - Stella Franceskides
SFUMATO - Amirali Mirderikvand
Micro Short
THE PEN - Jack Hsu
Do Geese See God - Natalie Theron
First-Time Director
Ritornato - Michael Cavalieri
Cacti and Weed - Zoe Ho
Help Me, Please - Sergio Muñoz Esquer
Young Directors
(18 y.o. and Under)
Death By Handshake - Hudson Flynn
The Humanity Test - Samuel Mitchell, Lily Kaplan
Her Rising in Grace - Sebastian Alexandre, Essence Bishop
NYWFF Jury 2020
Dina Emam
Named one of Variety's 10 Producers to Watch in 2018, Dina Emam is an Egyptian-American film producer and educator working between New York and Cairo.
Her first feature, Yomeddine, had its world premiere at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival in the Main Competition where it was awarded the Prix François Chalais. Yomeddine was also chosen as Egypt’s submission for the 91st Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Emam is currently a participant of the 2020 Creative Producer Indaba program for African producers (developed by Realness Institute in partnership with Sundance Institute, International Film Festival Rotterdam and EAVE).
In addition to producing, she teaches filmmaking/producing workshops and masterclasses for aspiring filmmakers in the US, the Middle East and Africa.
For International Women’s Day 2020, Emam was named a Female Champion of Change by the Canadian and Swedish embassies in Egypt for her outstanding achievement and contribution in building a stronger Egypt.
Prior to becoming a film producer, Emam worked in television market research and production management at MTV Networks in New York City. She also worked on Hulu’s Emmy-nominated miniseries The Looming Tower.
Emam holds a BS from New York University's Stern School of Business in Marketing and International Business with a specialization in Entertainment, Media and Technology and an MFA from Columbia University's School of the Arts in Creative Producing with advanced study in Screenwriting.
She has previously served as an AmeriCorps volunteer.
Vivian Rivas
Born in Guatemala. Always wanted to study film, but only traditional careers were offered at the local Universities. Graduated as an Architect and worked independently for a few years. After working in “The Silence of Neto” by director Luis Argueta, she moves to New York to work in his production company Morningside Movies.
Later on, she becomes a freelance script supervisor and freelance camera person. At 54, she gets her Masters degree in Documentary Filmmaking from City College. Her first short and thesis film “Ebb Tide” has been accepted in more than 14 festivals around the world and has won several awards. Currently, she in post-production of her first feature documentary film “Obfuscation” that talks about women demanding justice for young victims of torture under the care of the government.
Her goal is to write and direct documentaries about regular people going through unexpected journeys.
Talia Smith
A filmmaker born and raised in South Africa. Her country’s rich heritage inspired her storytelling aspirations from a young age. At 18 she followed her dreams and studied Film & TV at NYU’s Tisch School of the arts.
She has focussed her filmmaking career on true stories- highlighting ordinary people with extraordinary stories. Inspired by resilience and joy in the face of adversity, many of her films have thus far been centered around South African and Female lead narratives.
Her latest film UMAMA was shortlisted for a student BAFTA and received the Gold Medal at the Student Academy Awards.