The 9th Annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival Has Wrapped! Please Join Us For Our 10th Anniversary Festival August 21-25, 2024! See Below for Details.

Greetings from Middlebury! We are so grateful to everyone who made our 9th Annual Festival a record-setting event in myriad ways: audience attendance, filmmakers on the ground in Middlebury, Festival Passes and Advance Tickets sold, Awards and Prizes handed out and more. As we set our sails for MNFF10, and what will certainly be a genuine milestone Fest, we look forward to seeing a new round of excellent submitted films beginning in January and identifying other great films at other Festivals. We can’t wait to create memorable events with a group of remarkable Honorees and Special Guests. We are excited to put together wonderful happy hours and evening parties in scenic spots around our beautiful town. So, mark your calendars for August 21-25 and make your plans now to attend the 10th Anniversary of the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival!

What We Do and Why We Do It

The Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival is all about showcasing the outstanding work of first and second time filmmakers. It’s our sole focus and it’s what we do with great enthusiasm and care. The event takes place in scenic Middlebury, Vermont in late August each year. Our 9th Annual Fest just concluded but we will be back with our 10th Anniversary edition August 21-25, 2024.

Over its first nine years, MNFF has been incredibly fortunate to attract a diverse array of passionate new filmmakers from around the world working across all genres who are creating outstanding work. We seek out compelling and memorable stories about underrepresented communities. We encourage risk taking and boundary breaking in the films that we select. We have created innovative Prizes as well as inspiring partnerships with prestigious organizations like the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and the Bali International Film Festival, all done to give our filmmakers truly distinctive opportunities to advance their craft and careers. And, at the heart of it all, MNFF offers a joyous festival environment that is genuinely and deeply supportive of the emerging new voices in independent filmmaking.

COVID Health and Safety Protocol

We are reluctant to predict what our COVID Health and Safety protocols will look like come August 2024. However, in conjunction with our venue partners, we will do the very best we can to promote the safest possible environment at all our events.

Passes & Tickets

Festival Passes

MNFF10 Festival Passes will be available beginning June 3, 2024. Fest Passes are $115 through July 31 and $125 starting August 1. Fest Passes will be available 24/7 online at townhalltheater.org or in person at the Town Hall Theater box office Mon-Fri, 12-5pm, or by calling (802) 382-9222. Fest Pass sales will close on August 25.

Day Passes

MNFF10 Day Passes will be available, beginning June 3, for each day of the Festival at varying prices: $40 for a Wednesday or Sunday Day Pass and $45 for a Thursday, Friday or Saturday Day Pass. Day Passes will be available through the Town Hall Theater box office.

Student Passes

MNFF10 Student Fest Passes [for enrolled high school or college students] can be purchased in person only at Town Hall Theater for $50 with the presentation of a valid student ID beginning August 1. MNFF9 Student Day Passes can be purchased in person only at Town Hall Theater for $25 with the presentation of a valid student ID.

Opening Night Tickets

Tickets to the MNFF10 Opening Night Film and AfterParty [at Swift House Inn] are $65 and will be available June 3 online at townhalltheater.org or in person at the Town Hall Theater box office Mon-Fri, 12-5pm, or by calling (802) 382-9222. Please be aware of two things: first, the maximum number of tickets that each person can purchase is two [2]. And, second, if you have purchased a Festival Pass, THE FESTIVAL PASS IS NOT A TICKET TO THE OPENING NIGHT FILM AND AFTERPARTY. The Opening Night ticket MUST be purchased separately for $65 beginning June 3. Opening Night Tickets are in very limited supply. Once Opening Night Tickets are gone, Town Hall Theater will create a Waiting List in the event of last minute availability.

Individual Advance Tickets

Individual advance tickets [$17 each] for MNFF10 feature films will be available beginning August 5 at 12n EDT only on the MNFF website. When you arrive on the ticket buying platform, hosted by FilmFreeway, all the MNFF10 feature films [listed alphabetically] will have tickets available for purchase, with the exception of our Opening Night and Closing Night film [which is free and open to all]. The number of tickets available for each feature film depends on the size of the screening venue and the remaining number of tickets available is always visible to you on the platform. A maximum of 4 tickets can be purchased with each transaction.

Walk Up Tickets

Individual tickets can be purchased on a “walk up” basis at each MNFF venue for $14.00 for any block of films playing at that venue at that time. There is no priority seating for walk up ticket holders. Should the venue sell out its seating for that block of films before walk up ticket holders are admitted, the ticket may be used at any other venue to see any other block of films.

MNFF10 Films & Screening Schedule

Festival Program with Complete Schedule and All Films A-Z Will Be Available at middfilmfest.org On or About July 30, 2024.

All the MNFF10 films will be available for perusal on a handy Films A-Z page on the MNFF website that can be sorted by Feature, Short, Documentary and Narrative. Trailers, when provided by filmmakers, are there as well, accompanying each film’s individual page. We anticipate that this highly informative page will be published on August 3 at noon.

The entire Festival screening schedule is easy to navigate. Just click on the arrows next to each day’s various time blocks and see what films are being screened at what venue or what special events and parties are going on. Feel free to click all the arrows to allow the entire schedule to stay open while you scroll up and down. We anticipate that this highly informative page will be published on or about July 30, as well.

Screening Venues

We will be showing approximately 110-115 films on 6 screens at MNFF10, a diverse array of features and shorts across all genres, as selected by MNFF Artistic Director Jay Craven, with screenings at Town Hall Theater, the Marquis Theatre, the beautifully refurbished Dana Auditorium and Twilight Hall [both on the campus of Middlebury College]. Additionally, MNFF10 will offer nightly screenings outdoors Thursday-Saturday under the tent at Swift House Inn, a well received innovation that returns by popular demand.  And, back by popular demand, the MNFF Late Night screening returns to the Marquis Theatre on Festival Friday.