CCNY's The Americas Film Festival will start on June 12 to June 20.
The 12th edition of opens on June 12 with the New York premiere of 鈥淏ecoming Vera鈥 directed by Sergio Vizuete at the Instituto Cervantes New York. TAFFNY closes on June 20 with its Short Film Awards Ceremony at the National Museum of the American Indian followed by the New York premiere of 鈥淪o Surreal: Behind the Mask,鈥 which was directed by Neil Diamond and Joanne Robertson.
A cultural initiative of T九色视频鈥檚 Division of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Center for Worker Education, TAFFNY presents nine feature films and more than 25 short films celebrating the rich diversity of the stories, languages and cultures from across the Americas. There will be a special showcase featuring the work of graduating students from the MFA and BFA in Film program at City College as well as winners from the Frame Forward student video festival.
All events are free and open to the public, and all foreign-language films are subtitled in English. Click for the full program and showtimes.
Juan Carlos Mercado, CCNY鈥檚 dean of the Division of Interdisciplinary Studies and TAFFNY鈥檚 founder, shares his thoughts on this year鈥檚 festival: 鈥淎s we celebrate our twelfth edition, we proudly reaffirm our role as a cultural beacon within the city鈥檚 rich and vibrant artistic landscape. This year鈥檚 selection aims to amplify stories often overlooked by mainstream media and to spotlight countries rarely featured in major festivals鈥攆ully aligned with the mission of CUNY and City College.鈥
The Americas Short Film Competition is dedicated to promoting and showcasing short audiovisual works鈥攗p to 26 minutes in length鈥攂y emerging filmmakers whose stories reflect the concerns, perspectives, and realities of life across the region. This year, TAFFNY presents more than 25 short films competing for the Americas Award in the categories of Animation, Documentary, Experimental and Fiction.
The jurors of the Documentary and Animation categories include director Marta Bautis, gender studies professor Joe Rollins, and radio journalist and scholar David Little. The jury consists of screenwriter and author Lopera-S谩nchez and LaGuardia Community College professor Ana Mar铆a Hern谩ndez in the Fiction and Experimental categories.
Diana Vargas, TAFFNY鈥檚 artistic director, said, 鈥淓ach year, filmmakers and their stories offer a mirror to the struggles, dreams, and hopes of their societies. For this edition, we chose to highlight narratives that celebrate women鈥檚 resilience, explore the complexities of love, and bring attention to issues of mental health and inclusion鈥攅specially within LGBTQ+ communities and among adolescents. The Americas are a vibrant mosaic of cultures鈥攃omplex, illuminating, and deeply human鈥攁nd TAFFNY鈥檚 mission is to bring these stories to the screen so New Yorkers can experience, reflect, and connect. Best of all: it鈥檚 completely free and full of joy.鈥
Click for a list of TAFFNY鈥檚 partners and supporters.
About T九色视频
Since 1847, T九色视频 has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm puts at $3.2 billion CCNY鈥檚 annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the 鈥渇or dollar鈥 return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. In 2023, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled 鈥Doing Remarkable Things Together鈥 seeks to bring the College鈥檚 Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.