Programs
Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival
The Festival
Each year in August, we welcome more than eighty filmmakers and hundreds 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, MNFF provides a unique and supportive platform for artists taking early steps into the world of independent cinema.
In 2026, join us for MNFF12, taking place August 26-30, as we bring you five joy-filled days of exceptional films, notable honorees, stimulating panels and special events, topped off by wonderful happy hours and evening parties.
MNFF12 Schedule and Film Guide Available Now!
MovieMaker magazine’s Panel of Cool shares the festivals they would recommend to a friend — places where they felt good and had a blast. Places that are cool.
Passes
MNFF offers All-Access Festival Passes, Student Passes, Single Film Tickets and Walk-Up Tickets for audience members wanting to experience the fun at the Festival.
NEW! Ticket Bundles
For 2026, MNFF will be offering Ticket Bundles instead of Day Passes. Purchase either a 10 Ticket Bundle or a 5 Ticket Bundle and use them as you’d like throughout the Festival on any day that you attend. Bring a friend to a screening! Enjoy the flexibility of an MNFF Ticket Bundle!
Box Office
During the Festival, MNFF attendees are encouraged to visit our Festival Box Office at 48 Merchants Row, located in the old Bourdon building, with large display windows on each side. It is just past Town Hall Theater and the church, and just before Mac’s Barbershop. Stop by to meet our team, ask questions, buy individual film tickets and pick up physical passes. If you’re a Passholder, just bring your email confirmation to the Festival Box Office and trade it in for a physical pass and lanyard.
A team of friendly Festival staffers and volunteers will be on site to support you, give directions and help you out if you’ve run into a problem!
Tuesday 8/25 3pm-6pm
Wednesday 8/26 9:30am-5pm
Thursday 8/27 – Saturday 8/29 10am-5pm
Sunday 8/30 9am-12pm
Accessibility
We strive to provide as detailed information as possible regarding the accessibility of each of our screening venues. If you have an access need or accessibility question that’s not answered below, please send us an email at info@middfilmfest.org.
Hello, Attending Filmmakers!
We encourage our accepted filmmakers to come to the Festival, support each other’s work, seek inspiration and professional development at our talks and panels and engage directly with our audiences. We will have industry distributors on hand, as well. After the festival, we offer years of ongoing support for alumni work, including special mentions in our newsletter communications and access to alum-only film development opportunities.
Thank You, Alumni Filmmakers!
Among more than 14,000 film festivals worldwide, MNFF is proud to be consistently selected as a Top 100 Best Reviewed Festival by the premier global film submission and viewing platform, FilmFreeway. We truly thank our alumni filmmakers who have taken the time to let us know why they enjoy coming and we welcome the ongoing feedback and advice of filmmakers who have experienced what Middlebury has to offer. And recently, MNFF was named a 2025 Coolest Film Festival by MovieMaker Magazine. We are grateful for this recognition and the buzz about MNFF that our filmmakers have created.
Awards & Prizes
We award juried prizes for Best Narrative Feature, Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short, Audience Award-Feature and Audience Award-Short. Thanks to our generous sponsors, we also award more than 15 cash prizes to selected shorts and feature directors in special categories. Our joyous Festival awards ceremony is held on Closing Night of the Festival with the presentation of the iconic VTeddy Awards and is free and open to all.
Local Hospitality and Travel Fund Grants
Thanks to the hospitality of our community members, the vast majority of our attending filmmakers are able to stay with local hosts, who welcome artists into their homes and help orient them to the town and surrounding region. In addition, through the great generosity of our donors, the MNFF Travel Fund helps to offset airfare and train travel expenses for many of our attending filmmakers. And our volunteers provide friendly and speedy ground transportation from and to area airports.
Festival Venues
Our screenings are hosted by five beautiful venues across Middlebury: the newly-expanded Town Hall Theater complex, the family-owned Middlebury Marquis Theatre, and on the Middlebury College campus, the inviting Dana Auditorium, the historic Twilight Hall and the intimate Screening Room at the Axinn Center at Starr Library (Axinn 232). The diversity of our venues lends a distinctive character to this central aspect of the Festival.
Our Sponsors
Presenting Sponsor
Premium Sponsors
Sustaining Sponsors
Contributing Sponsors
Food & Beverage Sponsors
Travel, Lodging & hospitality Sponsors
Venue Sponsors
Media Sponsors
