Greetings to our family of friends, supporters and filmmakers from around the world! As we walk through these exceedingly challenging times collectively, we wanted to send you our current thoughts about the 6th Annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, slated for August 27-30, 2020.
Seeing the many film festivals that have postponed their events into the fall or beyond because of the spread of the COVID-19 virus, we are carefully evaluating what our next steps should be. The unpredictability of what we’ll be facing come August is daunting, to say the least.
Fortunately, the Festival’s spot on the calendar offers some legitimate hope that we can deliver another memorable event. By late August, the country may very well have climbed down from the peaks of the pandemic. The curves may have been decisively flattened by then or even headed downward. But, realistically, the scale of the Festival might be different than what we all are used to. Nonetheless, having received dozens of outstanding films thus far, and knowing there are many other superb films that we can curate to round out our program, we believe that MNFF6 could be quite special both as a film festival and, just as importantly, as a true community event.
So, as of now, we are NOT going to announce either a postponement or a cancellation. But neither can we say with unshakeable certainty that MNFF6 is a firm go. We remain optimistic but there are way too many factors still in play. All we can do is watch and wait and continue to assess what our path forward would look like. Please hang in there with us and we will keep you updated on our thinking in the weeks ahead.
One last thought: many non-profit organizations are financially strapped at this difficult moment and MNFF too has some real concerns as we look ahead. Knowing that many of you are likely being besieged by requests for donations, we can only ask that you consider us as part of your mix of generous support. You’ll find an opportunity to help on our donation page.
We urge all of you to take the absolutely very best care of your wonderful selves and stay healthy and safe.