13th Annual NFFTY Schedule

11:00am
Uptown 2

Spice up your life! Dive into the festival weekend by taking in a marvelous mixed bag of scintillating shorts. These stories range from a wacky watchful house to a true tale of badgers bothering Brits! It's a beautiful bounty of masterful miscellany.

Morning Eclectic

11:30am
Uptown 1

Some families are assigned at birth, others are chosen. Still others are grown and nourished over time. Either way, the ties that bind also can bend or break as life takes its twists and turns. Take a journey through the communal struggles and triumphs of characters who are entrenched in the familiar familial feuds that many of us face. Family comes first and last here!

Family Ties

1:00pm
Uptown 2

Houston, we have a program! Blast off into alternate realities where the space-time continuum is corrupted and dystopian dehumanization is rampant. Meet fantastical South African creatures and enter into the world of artificial intelligence-based apps that may soon shape our world. Just don't look at the moon!

A.L.: Artificial Life

1:30pm
Uptown 1

How do we see each other? How do we see ourselves? Watch these fearless filmmakers flip perception on its head and reclaim their identities through bold conversations on motherhood, sexuality, self-image, gender identity, and more. A lionhearted line-up of individuals expressing exactly who they are - and aren’t - for the world to see.

Reclaiming Me

2:30pm
SIFF Film Center

Borders, billionaires, foreign-born babies, rehabilitation, and the right to bear arms. The rights we are given and responsibilities we face as global citizens are brought into focus by these 5 documentaries illuminating personal perspectives of those on the frontlines of progress. The events are current and the tides of change are rising. Lean in and join the conversation!

Global Currents

3:30pm
Uptown 1

And the award for most palpable performance by a performer in a leading role goes to...you decide! We've rounded up the most scintillating scene-stealers to showcase the sacred theatrics of tried-and-true thespians. Thuffering thuccotash! (snapping is widely encouraged)

Palpable Performances

4:30 PM
Film Center

Seed&Spark connects people through stories that matter. Since 2012, their platform has helped thousands of creators bring stories to life and to audiences via story-centric crowdfunding, on-platform streaming, live community events and workplace programs that cultivate a culture of diversity and inclusion. At the heart of their cornerstone “Crowdfunding to Build Independence” workshop is a dedication to connecting creators with their audiences. It lays out the steps toward a successful crowdfunding campaign, as well as a career-long action plan most likely to create a lasting, flourishing, direct relationship with your audience. You’ll learn how to find and activate your audience, structure your crowdfunding campaign and pitch video, pick the right goal and incentives, and much more beyond marketing the campaign itself. Because after all, it isn’t just about crowdfunding: it’s about career building. Your career starts here!

Seed&Spark: Crowdfunding to Build Independence

6:30pm
Uptown 1

Just got paid, it's friday night, party huntin', feelin' right! Make your first weekend stop this highkey hectic mix of upbeat yams that'll yeet your wheat and make you ready to hit the street! From music vids to magical kids to a nostalgic nod to being a kid to a wrestler who can't cry to cupid's mighty try and a happy little fly who...just might die. Jk! Who knows! Gotta see for yourself kthxbye.

Happy Hour Shorts

7:30pm
SIFF Film Center

Buckle your eyebelts and grit your teeth, this wild ride will take you into the depths of drama. From a vengeful church confession to a blind man's deteriorating marriage to an all-knowing robotic servant, your senses will be satiated by this dark display of deep emotion. Too legit to grit, amirite?!

Powerful Grit

8:30pm
Uptown 1

Make your way downtown, walking fast, faces pass and I'm NFFTY bound! Friday's featured shorts block takes you on an emotional journey through life, love, and the psychological effects of solitary confinement. You know I'd walk a thousand miles if I could just see this screening, tonight.

The Long & Short of It

9:30pm
SIFF Film Center

What is life? Are we human? Or are we dancer? Can a copy machine feel love? Is the future a repeat of the past? If you're looking for visions of what's to come of our Earthly reality, look no further than this collection of outlandish, otherworldly observations from cunning creators. Now where did I put my keys?

A Screening Darkly

10:30pm
Uptown 1

Question: What do you get when you (redacted) a (redacted) and then put it in a (redacted) until it (redacted)? Answer: This screening! Come with an open mind, leave with a (redacted) mind. 9 of out 100 doctors reccomend this screening as a cure for (redacted)!

After Hours Absurdity

11:00am
Uptown 1

It's a family affair! Gather your kids - and that one neighbor kid who never goes home - and head down to NFFTY for a top-of-the-morning treat! From an adolescent magician to an endearing tail of a stray cat to an exploration of how love can unite us, we can certainly join together in celebration of these young directors! *Kids welcome, only youthful adults allowed*

Bring the Kids

11:30am
Uptown 2

In October 2019, high schools across the United States and Canada will participate in a 48-hour race to complete a three-minute short film, all while containing required elements: a prop, a line of dialogue, and fitting into a certain theme. These are their stories.

48-Hour Film Off

12:30pm
SIFF Film Center

As a boomer would say, this is the "artsy-fartsy stuff", or just "huh?" But NFFTY gets it! Young directors have stories to tell and unlimited ways to artistically express themselves. These films lean into the art of filmmaking and the result is a kaleidoscopic instersection of dance, experimental, music video and visual poetry. Mash me up, Scotty!

Art in Motion

1:00pm
Uptown 1

We're all on Team Human! In order to help reach a shared understanding of who we are, the untold stories of us must come to light. Get to know your neighbors, from near or far, as we work to make the bonds we all share a little tighter. We all get by with a little help from our friends!

Human Identities

2:00pm
Uptown 2

The climate is shifting. These stories from the environmental frontlines illustrate the beauy of our shared planet and the intensity of its rapid transformation. We all can make a difference; these filmmakers used their cinematic voice to take a stand for Mother Nature.

Our Changing Earth

2:30pm
SIFF Film Center

Meet the millennials fighting back against unpaid work. Call Me Intern follows three interns-turned-activists who refuse to accept that young people should have to work for free to kickstart their careers. Their stories challenge youth stereotypes and help give a voice to the growing movement for intern rights across the world.

Feature Presentation: Call Me Intern

3:00pm
Uptown 1

As a NFFTY filmmaker, these comes a time when you're ready to face the metaphorical final boss. You've beaten all levels and it's time...to LEVEL UP. In other words, these are some darn good films exploring a wide variety of time periods and stories. Ranging from the Holocaust to life on the streets of modern-day New York, you'll feel like you've cracked the code to the game of empathy when the final credits roll.

Level Up!

4:30pm
SIFF Film Center

We'll never know what life is truly like in a world other than our own, but this screening will help you get close! Ranging from peculiar puppets to nonconformist nuns to gruesome gladiators, these stories plunge you into pools of lives lived in atypical actualities.

Immerse Yourself

5:00 PM
Uptown 1

Get ready to be flooded with creative inspiration! Filmmaker and Vimeo Staff Pick record-holder Matty Brown is joining us this year to share his unique journey navigating the film industry and talk about everything from discovering and enhancing your own style to combatting self doubt. See how Matty’s projects evolved from inception to the final cut and learn some new techniques for you own creative process!

Keynote: Matty Brown

6:30pm
Uptown 1

How many licks does it take until you get to the center of NFFTY? If you're here, you've arrived! Approximately 126 films, 4 workshops, and 3 parties into the festival, we've reached the centerpiece. Like a fine piece of china, everything revolves around this. And these stories will tug at your tenderness, rip apart your faith in humanity, and then sew it back up again with nice little bow on top. You just may never look at camping the same way again.

Centerpiece

8:00pm
SIFF Film Center

They say experimentation unlocks your inner genius. Actually, nobody says that but it sounds good, right?! If it's true, these directors are well on their way to Marie Curie-levels of ingenuity. Open your mind and take an impressionistic trip into the deep psyche of underground NFFTY imaginative inventiveness. En garde, avant-garde!

Radical Experiments

8:30pm
Uptown 1

The scariest, spookiest, all-around sinister spectacle that your inner fright-fiend has been festering for. Bring an extra pair of pants and your driving gloves because this white-knuckle ride will launch you into the depths of demonic delight! Mwahaha!

Night Terrors

11:00am
SIFF Film Center

Sit down, Malick. The next generation of cinematic auteurs have arrived and they've got all the aspect ratios, anamorphics, and aesthetic needed to frame their fantastic foregrounds and backgrounds with ease. Come for the 4:3, stay for the 2.40. Cinematographer jokes are the best!

Cinematic Journey

11:30 AM
SIFF Cinema Uptown 2

How does NowThis rack in over 2.5 billion views a month and reach over 70% of young Americans? This workshop gives an exclusive look into the unique NowThis workflow that gives the #1 news brand on social the edge in fast-breaking political and social justice coverage.

In this workshop, NowThis associate producer, Jackson C Davis, will walk you through the production of a NowThis video from inception to publishing, and along the way, show you how we find stories, how we breakdown political jargon, and how soundbites and b-roll can come together to tell stories of the activist generation.

Creating Videos That Spark Movement

12:00pm
Uptown 1

Beyond borders lie important stories. Tales of family bonds, harrowing journeys to freedom, the walls we create to separate cultures and identities and the ways we treat those who we see as "different." As we work to acknowledge the hardships we place on others, the first step to forgiveness is understanding.

Facing the Frontier

1:00pm
Uptown 2

Come one, come all! Tall, short, wide, thin, dark, light, whatever your style or preference may be! NFFTY is home to people of all backgrounds, preferences, and lifestyle choices. This showcase shines a light on some of the untold, underrepresented stories and perspectives that you wont see at the multiplex.

Come As You Are

1:00pm
SIFF Film Center

Writer and director Anna Emma Haudal will take you through the development of her web series DOGGYSTYLE and discuss how it started as a graduation script for a feature film and ended as a web series that screened on national broadcast tv. A masterclass about research, developing and the anxiety of being a successful artist.

Masterclass: Anna Emma Haudal

2:00pm
Uptown 1

Northwest stand up! Our region is home to many things, including more dogs than humans, more trees than dogs, and incredible amounts of rain (so don't move here!). It's also home to a growing number of fantastically talented young filmmakers, who are on display on this screening. Get a glimpse into life in the upper left through the artists and people who call this place home and the music and stories that have developed upon the northwest backdrop.

Locals Only

2:30pm
SIFF Film Center

Why are we here? What motivates us to get up every day? Why is life so hard? Some of life's more complex questions can't be answered, but clarity can be achieved through cinematic revelations. If these questions resonate, come find some answers in this slate full of seminal survival information. From life in the in-between to explorations of the afterlife, you'll be transported into higher planes of transcendental thought.

Existential Epics

3:00pm
Uptown 2

All aboard the animation train! These sensations are leaving the station and the first stop is Lego-town! This mixture of mediums - from claymation to hand-drawn stop-motion to CGI - will drop your jaw to the floor and leave you screaming "more!" More like "ore!" because your mouth will be stuck open. You get the point!

Animation Sensations

4:00pm
Uptown 1

This is it chief...it's time to take your horse down to NFFTY Road and ride until the music starts to flow! Its flame emoji music video szn and this lineup is lowkey gonna give you life rn! These yung Hype Williams wannabes have been doing the extra most to bring the fire drip and now it's time for the glow up. Don't ghost us or leave us on read, we're getting this music video bread. Mic drop!

Slaps, Bops & Bangers

4:30pm
SIFF Film Center

Sunday scaries got you feeling down? Take a load off with some light-hearted fare that'll remind you of when you were young, wild, and free with not a care in the world...except for death and taxes (unless you're a billionaire). From a drag queen's big moment to the meaning of life falling in an unsuspecting restaurant worker's lap, you're guaranteed to smile for a while when this screening is over!

Lighten Up!

6:30pm
Uptown 1

The time is now for the filmmakers that will shape the stories of the future. Generation NOW takes center stage with intimate tales of contemporary adolescent life, the struggles and triumphs of life on earth, and the nooks and crannies of emotional evolution that define our existence. As NFFTY 2019 comes to a close, we hope you're left with hope for the future and the confidence that we'll be okay - if we listen to the next generation.

Closing Night: Generation NOW