NYC Quarantine Film Festival Features Works Made Amid Coronavirus

INWOOD, MANHATTAN — The Inwood Film Festival will be replaced this year by a festival that captures New York City during the coronavirus crisis.

Inwood Art Works, the nonprofit that runs the annual Uptown festival, has announced that a new virtual festival featuring the lives of New Yorkers during coronavirus quarantine will be held in place of their annual in-person film weekend.

The New York City Quarantine Festival will ask filmmakers to create minutes-long movies while practicing social distancing. Unlike the Uptown-specific Inwood Film Festival, the quarantine fest will span all five boroughs.

“We always kept hope we would move forward with a film festival this year — little did we know it would be in this format," said Aaron Simms, founder of Inwood Art Works, the organization that puts on the annual festival.

"It took us a few weeks to figure out how we might encourage creativity and be useful to New Yorkers; so we decided an open city-wide virtual festival would be the best way Inwood Art Works can continue its mission to create an artistic platform for the arts and entertainment community in NYC, specifically Uptown.”

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Inwood Art Works originally postponed its Fifth Annual Inwood Film Festival as the coronavirus ramped up in New York City. The film was meant to be held at Columbia University's Campbell Sports Center, which canceled all events as the campus shutdown in March just days before the March 13 festival weekend.

The Inwood festival typically asks for submissions from filmmakers in Washington Heights, Marble Hill, Kingsbridge and Riverdale.

Submissions to the new "quarantine" festival can be made anywhere in New York City and can be handed in until May 29 online. There is no submission fee but Inwood Art Works suggests a donation of $3 to the organization.

Films can be submitted in four genres — comedy, drama, horror and kids, which must be made by those 12 years old and younger — and can be no longer than three minutes long. They each must be shot with a phone while practicing social distancing, the organization said.

The accepted entries will be uploaded to Inwood Art Works YouTube channel in an “IAWQFF Playlist" to be voted on by the public. The films with the most likes by the general public during the week of June 1 through 13 will be awarded $250 each, by category.

The "Top 10" liked films and awarded film will get a post-quarantine viewing in NYC Parks in 2021 as part of Inwood Art Works’ Film Works Alfresco outdoor cinema series.

Find out more about the festival here.

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