Winter Film Awards (WFA) is a volunteer-run and operated celebration of the diversity of local and international film-making. In addition to our annual Independent Film Festival, we host 4-6 events each year in New York City, including panel discussions, networking parties, a 48-Hour Film Challenge, archival cartoon screenings and other fun film-related events. Our Mission is to recognize excellence and diversity in cinema and to promote learning and artistic expression for people at all stages of their artistic careers with a focus on nurturing emerging filmmakers from all genres from around the world, and helping them gain recognition and contacts to break into this difficult industry. Our annual festival offers something for everyone, highlighting the dynamic range of talent and storytelling capabilities the independent filmmaking community has to offer. We pride ourselves on our diverse collection of Festival selections, allowing our audience to enjoy films they normally wouldn’t think to seek out. Like many of the great film Festivals across the country and the world, WFA seeks to bring our audience compelling and unique content that inspires the viewers and honors the filmmakers. There are hundreds of film festivals in New York City; what makes us different is our intense focus on the variety of our films and helping new filmmakers reach what may be their first real audience. WFA is a minority- and women-owned registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We work with all local NYC film schools, colleges, arts high schools and many cultural societies.