New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) is proud to announce the projects selected for the 4th Annual NYWIFT Online Shorts Festival, presented in partnership with GoIndieTV and iWomanTV.
NYWIFT was founded in 1977 by a handful of women who saw a pressing need in New York for a networking and education forum for women in the entertainment industry. Over 40 years later, NYWIFT’s diverse membership is now 2,500 strong, made up of women and men who work in all aspects of television, film and digital media, from behind-the-scenes to in front of the camera to the executive suite. We are thrilled to showcase some of established and rising stars through the Online Shorts Festival!
The selected films and webisodes are available to stream on:
(Please note you will have to sign up for a free account with iWomanTV to watch the films.)
Please VOTE for your favorites by January 31!
Click the thumbs up to “vote” for a project. You can vote for as many as you like.
The film with the most votes will win the Audience Choice Award and $2,000 from iWomanTV!
Watch Now and Vote on iWomanTV
Thank you to our friends at GoIndieTV and iWomanTV for offering this incredible opportunity to the NYWIFT community.
Watch the films online now:
48 Blocks
In a city once dominated by Trump, two powerful real estate developers – one a former NBA star and local hero – battle for control over a key piece of Atlantic City that holds the long-buried roots to their rivalry.
NYWIFT Member Sherry McCracken
(Writer & Executive Producer)
NYWIFT Member Dina Engel
(Actor & Executive Producer)
Best Crime – First Place
Watch Now
7 moment | 7 Minutes: Remembering the Times on Zuiderdam’s Cruise to Nowhere
After spending 53 days marooned at sea, a cruise director recounts her time with her crew aboard the MS Zuiderdam during their first 21 days prior to self isolation.
NYWIFT Member Stephanie Summerville
(Writer, Actress & Director)
Honorable Mention – Made During Lock-Down
Watch Now
A Happy New Year’s E-Card
Someone has sent you a Happy New Year e-Card! Take a moment to reflect on all the happy times from 2020, as you prepare for another great year ahead.
NYWIFT Member Stephanie Stender
(Creator)
Best Dramedy – Second Place
Watch Now
Addie & Addy
Two Nigerian-American women with the same name but completely different personalities end up living together in an apartment after a rental lease mix up.
NYWIFT Member Adenike Thomas
(Writer, Director & Actress)
Best Web Series – Third Place
Watch Now
Afro
After multiple encounters with her bully and a little academic inspiration, an African-American teen girl finally stands up for herself against classmates that question her cultural identity.
NYWIFT Member Jen Shaw
(Writer, Director & Producer)
Best Dramedy – Third Place (tie)
Watch Now
Ahora Que Si Nos Ven (Now That They See Us)
A group of young women come together against the back drop of social upheaval in Chile in the summer of 2019 to create protest performance art as a way to push against conservative Chilean society and make their voices heard during a turbulent time in their country.
NYWIFT Member Martha Gregory
(Director, Editor & Co-Writer)
Honorable Mention – Documentary International
Watch Now
At The Shore
An old man searches the beach of his childhood for a lost memory and hidden talisman, and finds unexpected help from an inquisitive young boy.
NYWIFT Member Stephanie Falkeis
(Writer & Director)
Best Drama – Third Place (tie)
Watch Now
Big Little Sis
Doris Darden may be 3’9” but to her three younger sisters she is and will always be Big Little Sis. “No” was never an option for Doris. This is a story of inspiration and unconditional love.
NYWIFT Member Jody Prusan
(Writer & Director)
Best Documentary Social Issues – Second Place (tie)
Watch Now
Blight
A grieving young girl with supernatural abilities seeks vengeance after the racially charged officer-involved shooting of her teenage brother.
NYWIFT Member Brittany Clemons
(Writer & Director)
Best Sci-Fi – Second Place
Watch Now
Christmas Eve: Panic at the Pole
A Christmas Musical about the mania of Christmas Eve at the North Pole.
NYWIFT Member Colleen Davie Janes
(Director)
Best Creative – Third Place
Watch Now
Detained
Two refugee siblings flee war for a better life only to find themselves in the middle of a travel ban.
NYWIFT Member Khushnuda Shukurova
(Writer & Director)
Best Social Issues – Second Place
Watch Now
Division Street
When Dee, a mixed race little girl, is sent to live with her grandmother on the Lower East Side, she is overwhelmed by the new environment. But she starts to realize the neighborhood might be a magical and divers new home.
NYWIFT Member Traven Rice
(Writer & Director)
Honorable Mention – Sci-Fi
Watch Now
Fresh Air
Slowly losing his world to Alzheimer, Robert finds solace in walks with his grandson, formulating a way to make one final contribution to his family.
NYWIFT Member Meghan Martin
(Line Producer)
Best Drama – Third Place (tie)
Watch Now
G is for Gun: The Arming of Teachers in America
Since the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, schools in as many as 13 states have started arming teachers as a security measure. How did this happen, and what does it mean for American education?
NYWIFT Member Julie Akeret
(Co-Director & Co-Writer)
Best Documentary Social Issues – Third Place
Watch Now
Gladys Brown
In this crafty comedy, Gladys, the mainstay of her company, formulates a brilliant plan for one-upmanship when she gets passed over for advancement.
NYWIFT Member Felecia Hunter
(Writer/Producer)
Best Actress – First Place, Anna Maria Horsford
Best Comedy – First Place
Watch Now
Hat Trick Bitches
In this sketch comedy series, as best friends Maddy, Marlowe, and Nastasia chat about their lives and friendship over the course of one evening, it becomes clear: no topic is off limits — and with no limits, their imaginations run wild.
NYWIFT Member Nastasia Green
(Creator)
Best Web Series – First Place
Watch Now
How Am I Doing
A former alcoholic battles old habits while trying to rebuild his fleeting acting career and regain the respect of his daughter.
NYWIFT Member Colleen Davie Janes
(Director & Co-Producer)
Best Dark Comedy – Third Place
Watch Now
How Much Am I Worth
This stirring documentary explores the failings of the U.S. health system through the lens of four women with disabilities.
NYWIFT Member Catriona Rubenis-Stevens
(Co-Director & Editor)
Best Documentary Social Issues – Second Place (tie)
Watch Now
I am Number: USO
In 1969, a small-town girl from Bergen, NJ auditioned and was cast as a singer and dancer on the “Dean Martin Show.” Off to Hollywood she went! As one of the Golddiggers, she was invited to entertain American Troops with the USO and “Bob Hope Christmas Show” in wartime Vietnam.
NYWIFT Member Maria Rusolo
(Writer, Director, Co-Editor & Producer)
Best Documentary – Third Place (tie)
Watch Now
In.clu.sion
An endearing short by 16 year old Julia Ward, big sister to Spencer a tween with special needs, asking Hollywood’s elite how to include more characters like her brother in film and why it is important. Heartfelt, emotional, and inspiring.
NYWIFT Member Maria Rusolo
(Producer, Co-Editor)
Honorable Mention – Documentary Social Issues
Watch Now
Isolation Restaurant
During the depths of the Covid-19 quarantine, you’re cordially invited to Pascale’s Trattoria, a charming Italian restaurant nestled in the heart of a suburban living room.
NYWIFT Member Nadia Tass
(Director)
Best Made During Lock-Down – Second Place
Watch Now
Joe & The Shawl
Joe flirts with Kelli while changing her car battery. When Joe discovers something about her , he reveals his extremist ideas, telling Kelli she’s damned to hell, so she tells him she’s left him something special in his truck.
NYWIFT Member Nicole Ballivian
(Director & Co-Writer)
Best Film
Best Social Issues – First Place
Watch Now
Kill AL
Two female robots discover their own humanity and realize that their purpose and worth extends beyond their assigned directives with extreme results.
NYWIFT Member Christine Verleny
(Producer and Actor)
Best Sci-Fi – Third Place
Watch Now
Layers of a Baker
Owning your own business in New York City could be the perfect definition of the “American Dream’; but for Marcos, a baker, that dream can show many layers.
NYWIFT Member Carla Franchesca Robles Nunez
(Writer & Co-Director)
Best Documentary Artist – Third Place
Watch Now
Leftside of Fashion
Combining her 20+yrs of fashion knowledge with her magnetic personality, Bunny delivers fun impact-positive videos that are bite-sized & binge-worthy.
NYWIFT Member Bunny Yan
(Creator)
Honorable Mention – Web Series
Watch Now
Lies & Oblivion: Session’s Vocal Unit
Two warring sisters battle it out in starving therapist’s office.
NYWIFT Member Jezabel Montero
(Writer & Director)
Best Ensemble Cast
Best Comedy – Second Place
Watch Now
Life Reflecting
Life Reflecting focuses on stories told by three individuals, reflecting back on very different challenges in their lives.
NYWIFT Member Melissa Farris
(Writer & Producer)
Honorable Mention – Creative
Watch Now
Lola Does Manhattan
When a worldly, naive, fun loving empty nester leaves her marriage and begins anew in Manhattan. She unwittingly begins the most important journey of her life- Finding herself.
NYWIFT Member Eve Austin
(Producer, Actress & Co-Writer)
Best Web Series – Second Place
Watch Now
Making Waves
For Lamya Essemlali, there is a race against time: “If the ocean dies, we die.” For the last decade, this 40-year-old French conservationist is the only woman who has led various Sea Shepherd campaigns all over the world.
NYWIFT Member Marcia Rock
(Program Director)
Best Documentary International – Second Place
Watch Now
Margo & Perry
A seemingly random babysitting gig proves to be more than meets the eye.
NYWIFT Member Rebecca Roth
(Writer & Director)
Best Dramedy – Third Place (tie)
Watch Now
New York Photographer: Jill Freedman in the City
Jill Freedman (1939-2019) was a New York photographer in league with the best of the best—a Magnum-level artist, who recently died broke, alone, nearly unacknowledged, and yet—until the very end—full of her distinctive, unforgettable vim, vigor, and vinegar.
NYWIFT Member Rita Mullaney
(Writer & Director)
Best Documentary Artist – First Place
Watch Now
Nice To Meet You Again
In the midst of a global pandemic and a national lockdown, Ted and Anna happen to reconnect over social media and spontaneously decide to video chat. It’s the first time they’ve seen each other since they were kids, and they quickly discover that a lot has changed.
NYWIFT Member Leah Curney
(Director)
Best Made During Lock-Down – Third Place
Watch Now
Now You See Us
Two actresses “of a certain age” compete fiercely for a role in a TV commercial, but as their audition approaches, the lifelong rivals discover that they are in the presence of a much larger threat: A society that finds them invisible!
NYWIFT Member Romina Schwedler
(Director, Writer of Adapted Screenplay, Editor, Co-Producer)
Best Comedy – Third Place (tie)
Watch Now
Off Duty
A hijab wearing elite law enforcement officer is the victim of mistaken identity on her day off thanks to a pregnant homeless woman who attracts the wrong kind of cop.
NYWIFT Member Mel House
(Actor, Comedian, Writer & Filmmaker)
Honorable Mention – Social Issues
Watch Now
On The Sidewalk
A girl saving a boy shouldn’t be this ridiculous.
NYWIFT Member Amanda Jabes
(Producer & Writer)
Best Comedy – Third Place (tie)
Watch Now
People Like You
The heir to a late billionaire returns to his family’s Beverly Hills estate, where he finds a woman, a corpse, and the keys to a fortune that hangs in the balance.
NYWIFT Member Gabriella Piazza
(Executive Producer & Lead Actor)
Best Crime – Second Place
Watch Now
Portrait of the Artist George Grace
A commissioned work for the Buffalo Society of Artists’ Video Archive Project, the film offers an intimate and illuminating conversation with former Buffalo Steel worker, painter and poet George Grace.
NYWIFT Member Lukia Costello
(Producer, Director & Editor)
Honorable Mention – Documentary Artist
Watch Now
Precious Cargo Return to Vietnam
In 1975 Saigon, orphanages were filled with needy and disabled children, many born to American fathers and Vietnamese mothers. Before the city fell, a huge international effort flew over 3,000 children to homes abroad.
NYWIFT Member Janet Gardner
(Writer, Director & Producer)
Best Documentary International – First Place
Watch Now
Save our Sisters Alaska: Justice for Harriet
Amos Lang, sober after a life of substance abuse, finally confronts the dark history of violence in his family which took his young mother from her children when she was gang-raped by three men who tortured and murdered her without ever being punished.
NYWIFT Member Mary Katzke
(Writer, Director & Producer)
Best Documentary – Third Place (tie)
Watch Now
Shipwreck
Shot on iphone11Pro cameras during the pandemic lock-down in Los Angeles, Shipwreck is a lyrical portrayal of a young girl navigating grief, loss and her sense of identity.
NYWIFT Member Lisa L. Cole
(Writer & Director)
Best Made During Lock-Down – First Place
Watch Now
Silhouettes Behind the Garment
When fashion finds creative High School Students.
NYWIFT Member Tony Wilkes
(Executive Producer & Producer)
Best Documentary Artist – Second Place
Watch Now
Siri-Ous Business
Mike Thomas is having a very rough day. He calls his sister for help, but Siri has a darker plan in mind.
NYWIFT Member Stephanie Stender
(Director, Writer, & Producer)
Best Dark Comedy – First Place
Watch Now
Sofa So Good
In the streets of New York, a young woman is relentlessly, stubbornly and desperately, looking for a sofa.
NYWIFT Member Noa Osheroff
(Writer, Director & Producer)
Honorable Mention – Comedy
Watch Now
Staying Afloat
Two sisters deal with the aftermath of a life-altering event. A couple adrift tries to reconnect with a pet fish. A babysitter helps a 10-year-old girl prepare for her first swim meet.
NYWIFT Member Elizabeth Katz
(Writer &Director)
Best Creative – Second Place
Watch Now
Stomach Troubles
Alyssa is mortified when she starts to have… stomach troubles… our bodies can be so embarrassing.
NYWIFT Member Lisa Romagnoli
(Writer & Director)
Best Dark Comedy – Second Place
Watch Now
Stormchaser
A door-to-door saleswoman caught up in the tornado of her boss’s cultish personality unleashes a storm of violence when she realizes that she and her customers have been duped — not only by him and his doctrine of “Flip the Switch!” but by the whole system of Disaster Capitalism.
NYWIFT Member Gretl Claggett
(Creator, Writer, Director, Producer & Executive Producer on Producing Team)
Best Writer & Director
Best Dramedy – First Place
Watch Now
Sucked In
A young woman arrives home late one night to find a dangerous intruder frantically rummaging through her New York City apartment. When her roommate arrives, things take an unexpected turn.
NYWIFT Member Andrea Pappas
(Producer)
Best Sci-Fi – First Place
Watch Now
The 3 Day Nun
Lava’s family wanted her to follow the tradition of their family being a nun (or monk) in a forest temple in Thailand. Lava was on a healing journey but ended up with a life changing experience being among their Thai tradition of a giving community.
NYWIFT Member Lava Buckley
(Writer & Director)
Best Documentary International – Third Place
Watch Now
The Future Is Rotten
The rare fungi appears in troubled and depleted forests, collaborating with trees to help each other grow through a mutual collaboration. Humans continue to be stumped on how to cultivate these rare and valuable mushrooms and voices urging the U.S.
NYWIFT Member Nancy Dionne
(Writer, Director & Producer)
Multi-Pontentially Award: Nancy Dionne
Best Documentary – Second Place
Watch Now
The Naturals
A brother and sister deal with the aftermath of the death of their father–who was a hitman for the Boston mob.
NYWIFT Member Sophia Betz
(Editor)
Best Crime – Third Place
Watch Now
The Quarantine Muse
In this stop-motion animation, a furry stuck-at-home New Yorker makes a bold socially distanced gesture for a front-line nurse next door.
NYWIFT Member Sally Lomidze
(Writer, Creator & Director)
Best Creative – First Place
Watch Now
The Six
Late at night on a steamy subway platform in the South Bronx, a couple engages in a battle over the truth.
NYWIFT Member Suzanne Curry
(Producer)
Honorable Mention – Dark Comedy
Watch Now
The Visits
A refreshing take on a family’s ability to cope and accept death from Alzheimer’s.
NYWIFT Member Bobbin Bergstrom
(Director)
Best Actor Nate Santana
Best Drama – First Place
Watch Now
There’s Your Ready Girl
Civil Rights leader Dorothy Cotton got things done. Throughout her long life she organized, she spoke out, she challenged the status quo. Her largely unknown story inspires us today to embrace the power and responsibilities of citizenship.
NYWIFT Member Deborah C. Hoard
(Producer and Co-Director)
Best Documentary Social Issues – First Place
Watch Now
Unchecked
Supported by images, music and historical footage, allies of the late John P. O’Neill transport viewers into their recollected world of major breakthroughs against al-Qaeda, and how they were ultimately derailed from preventing the September 11th attacks.
NYWIFT Member Barbara Bowen
(Writer & Director)
Best Documentary – First Place
Watch Now
Vida
Iranian immigrants mom who lives in US struggles to see her daughter because of Travel-ban.
NYWIFT Member Bita Elahian
(Writer)
Best Social Issues – Third Place
Watch Now
We Got This
Marcus, an ethnically mixed, bi-curious, high school senior is two and half hours late for his curfew on prom night. His white father and African American mother have very different experiences of his lateness as culture and color clash in this story about safety, diversity, and love.
NYWIFT Member K.Page Stuart Valdes
(Writer, Director, Editor, Producer)
Best Drama – Second Place
Watch Now
Congratulations again to all the selections and winners!
