general information
How to Fest
How To Fest (and FAQs)
If you’re coming to visit us for the first time, or just want some tips on how best to enjoy Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, take a look at the frequently asked questions and answers below.
General Questions
Well, yes and no! It will feel pretty similar from when the lights dim until the credits roll, but film festivals offer a lot of opportunities that “regular” movie screenings don’t.
The main difference is that Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival offers exclusive access to emerging voices in film, and many of the films in our program have Vermont, New England and even world premieres. And beyond discovering films that you can’t see anywhere else, in many cases you’ll get the chance to hear from the filmmakers directly, mingle with them at parties, and ask them questions about their work and inspiration.
Short answer: it’s just as easy as going to the movie theater any other time, but more exciting.
No, but we hope you will!
We encourage you to purchase your pass online prior to the festival start, but you can also come to our Festival Box Office in person to purchase your pass once the festival begins. Festival Box Office hours open on Wednesday, August 20, at 10 am and are indicated in full below.
Once you have your pass, we also strongly encourage you to reserve tickets in advance, to guarantee your seat. But if you’d like to be spontaneous, you can also just show up to a venue with your pass. Passholders with tickets will be let in first; then single ticket holders, and finally, passholders without a ticket.
We encourage reservations because it helps us appropriately staff venues, plan ahead for crowd control and lines at popular screenings, and accurately track attendance at screenings, which some of our distributors require. It also helps ensure audiences who are super excited about a particular screening can be guaranteed a seat as long as they arrive on time.
We ask that you arrive at each screening at least 15 minutes in advance. Please note that, even if you’ve secured a ticket online, your seat cannot be guaranteed if you do not arrive 15 minutes prior to showtime.
Our volunteers will throw you in the fountain!
Just kidding. Life happens, and if you’re running late, it’s still possible that you’ll be able to see the film. But you’ll be directed to the back of the line, which means that you might not get a seat if you’re attending a particularly popular screening. In short, always aim to show up at least 15 minutes early.
Sometimes. We have a special “For All Ages” tag on our schedule that denotes which films are particularly suitable for a younger audience. In general, we encourage parents to look over the film descriptions/trailers on Eventive and use their own discretion when choosing which films are appropriate for the whole family.
Passes & Tickets
Eventive is our new online festival platform and ticketing system. We are using Eventive to streamline the process for our staff, festivalgoers and box office managers.
When purchase your first pass or ticket, Eventive will automatically ask you to create an account by entering your email address and selecting a password. From then on you will always have an account with us.
If you’re a Vermonter or a Student, you can purchase the relevant all-access pass on our Pass Page. When you claim your passes, make sure to bring your valid Vermont state/student identification to pick them up at the box office!
Yes! Your first option is a Day Pass, which costs $50 and gets you into all film screenings and panels for that specific day. For instance, you might consider grabbing a Day One (Thursday) pass if you know you’ll be busy for the rest of the festival.
We also offer tickets to individual screenings, which go for $17 per screening. If you are only looking to go to a few films across the festival dates, this might be the perfect option! Or maybe you have a pass and want to purchase a standalone ticket for a friend. Just make sure to note that individual tickets will not grant you access to parties, panels, or special events.
Yep! After you order your pass online, you will have a physical pass available for pickup at our Festival Box Office in Town Hall Theater’s new wing.
Festival Box Office hours are:
Wednesday, August 20, 10 am – 4 pm
Thursday, August 21, 10 am – 4 pm
Friday, August 22, 10 am – 4 pm
Saturday, August 23, 10 am – 4 pm
Sunday, August 24, 10 am – 2 pm
Once you’ve picked up your physical pass, we encourage you to wear your pass proudly! It will get you quicker entry into screenings, panels and parties, and it will also help our staff and volunteers to easily identify passholders. Plus, it will signal to everyone else that you have excellent taste!
Not necessarily. We highly encourage you to reserve tickets to specific screenings in advance, to save your seat. If you really don’t want to reserve tickets, that’s okay; just know that this means you may not gain entry to very popular or sold-out screenings.
To reserve tickets in advance, browse the whole schedule here, select the films you’re interested in attending, and click on Get Tickets to add a specific film screening ticket to your pass. If you are a passholder, all tickets will be free to reserve and forever linked to your pass, which will guarantee you access to a seat in the theater (provided that you arrive 15 minutes prior to showtime!)
Whether you reserve a ticket in advance or not, please note that if you do not arrive 15 minutes prior to showtime, your seat cannot be guaranteed. At 15 minutes prior to showtime, we will let in passholders with reserved tickets first, then individual ticketholders and then passholders without reserved tickets. At showtime, any remaining seats in the theater may be given to those who have not purchased tickets in advance.
Not to fear! If you lose your pass and time is of the essence, your email confirmation (on your phone or printed out) can serve as a backup for entry to screening venues for films to which you’ve purchased a ticket. This will work in a pinch.
If you’ve lost your pass and you aren’t in a rush, you can bring your email confirmation back to our Festival Box Office and ask that we print a replacement pass for you.
That said, our team is small and largely volunteer-powered, so please do your best to keep your pass safe.
Yes, we ask that you do pick up your physical pass and wear it throughout the festival. This helps our festival volunteers and venue managers quickly identify you as a passholder, scan you into each venue with speed, and manage lines and crowds at each venue.
Plus, while an email confirmation can be used if you have a pass emergency, we don’t want you to have to rely on your phone or a printed piece of paper. Phone batteries can die; passes are forever!
Our Opening Night is ticketed separately from all other festival film screenings and events, which means that holding a festival pass does not grant you admission. A unique Opening Night ticket must be purchased ahead of time here, and there will not be a guest list nor a will-call window at our box office on Opening Night.
Tickets to this event include entry to the film screening as well as entry to the Opening Night Afterparty.
Your ticketed seat will be held for you until showtime at 6pm, after which point we may offer your seat to someone else on the waitlist. You may print a physical copy of your ticket to bring to Opening Night, or show the pdf of your ticket at the door — just remember to bring your smartphone fully charged!
All seating is general admission, first-come first-served. At 15 minutes prior to showtime, we will let in passholders with reserved tickets first, then individual ticket-holders, and then passholders without reserved tickets. If you want a prime seat, reserve your ticket in advance and show up early!
All passes and tickets are non-refundable. All sales are final. If you have any questions or concerns about a purchase, please feel free to reach out to tickets@middfilmfest.org.
Travel, Parking & Accessibility
You absolutely can, but note that Middlebury is a small town with limited parking options. You will most likely find it easiest to park in one place and then walk between screening venues. And if you’re arriving to Vermont by train or plane, rest easy in knowing you won’t need a car to get to any of our festival venues, including films, panels, parties and events.
There are many free, walkable places to park around Middlebury, but some lots are tucked away behind buildings or around corners, so they can be harder to find if you’re not a local. Below are our recommended spots for parking for each festival venue, and here’s a handy downloadable parking map.
Note that all parking lots are walkable and convenient to key festival venues, but you should allow ten minutes between parking and arriving at your venue, just in case.
You got it! The image below can be saved to your phone or printed out.
Of course! Here’s what we recommend:
Town Hall Theater: Merchant’s Row, North Pleasant Street or after business hours, Langrock, Sperry & Wool Law Firm (111 South Pleasant Street) or Foote Law Firm (135 South Pleasant Street).
Middlebury Marquis Theatre: Upper Library Lot or Lower Library Lot, or the Frog Hollow Lot.
Dana Auditorium: Street parking on College St/Route 125 or the Atwater Lot. *Please do not use the private St. Mary’s lot, as the church needs the lot to remain reserved for its parishioners.*
Twilight Hall: Academy Street Lot
Axinn Center at Starr Library (Axinn 232): Street parking on Route 30, or the Mahaney Arts Center Lot.
Crooked Ladle: Upper Library Lot or Lower Library Lot, or the Frog Hollow Lot.
Edgewater Gallery: Merchant’s Row, Upper Library Lot, Lower Library Lot, or the Frog Hollow Lot.
Extremely! All of our screenings and events take place within a 20 minute walk from each other; some venues are only a few minutes away from each other. And Middlebury is a small and very walkable town in general.
Almost all of our screening venues, event venues and party venues are accessible. Check our Accessibility page for details. If you have further questions, please reach out to accessibility@middfilmfest.org.
MNFF12 | AUGust 26–30
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