Held annually since 2001 in a week-long April event, Ivy Film Festival has grown to become the largest student-run film festival in the world. Festival week features advanced screenings of feature films, panels, keynotes, workshops, and masterclasses with some of the most highly regarded professionals in the industry, culminating with the Official Selection of short student films, screenplays, and virtual reality experiences. In 2016, Ivy Film Festival expanded its reach to partner with dozens of universities across the world through its Satellite Film Festival, bringing its world-renowned Official Selection to audiences throughout the globe.
Past industry guests have included Jack Nicholson, Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, Wes Anderson, Adrien Brody, Laura Linney, Wes Craven, Park Chan-wook, Aaron Sorkin, Olivia Wilde, Jon M. Chu, Bryan Cranston and Lena Dunham, among many others.
The festival features four separate student competitions, each with its own individual awards: the domestic undergraduate film competition; the graduate school film competition; the international film competition; and the screenplay competition.