About Us
Every film begins with a story, and storytelling in the filmmaking process is the essence of the New York State Writers Institute’s Albany Film Festival.
This annual spring event is a natural outgrowth of the Writers Institute’s mission to be one of the nation’s preeminent literary presenting organizations. We host filmmakers and screen films that explore the craft of diverse storytelling in cinema, foster a deeper understanding of social justice and celebrate the human experience in all its dimensions.
The Festival includes in-depth panel discussions and how-to workshops with writers, screenwriters, filmmakers and film industry professionals, film critics and authors who have adapted their books into films. The program provides an intensive immersion into the intersection between writing and filmmaking.
Full-length and short film screenings of new work from aspiring student filmmakers to acclaimed directors will be shown, along with conversations and Q&As that encourage audience participation. Classic films will also be part of the Festival, augmenting the Writers Institute’s long-running and highly regarded Classic Film Series.
The forum for the Festival is the University at Albany, an academic institution that is one of the most diverse public research universities in the country, with 18,000 undergraduate and graduate students.
Since 1983, the Writers Institute has been the place where readers, writers and filmmakers meet. The Albany Film Festival expands and continues those conversations.