Congratulations to the winners of the Audience Favorite Award!

Saturday:  Cancer and Cake, by Dan Pellar

Sunday:  Yonkers, by Andrea Del Bene

For last minute questions/issues, call Festival Director Mara Lesemann at:

551-200-8112

Important note:  any tickets bought electronically will be picked up at the front desk on the day of the screening.

SPECIAL THANKS to Agata and Valentina for donating the gift baskets for the Audience Favorite Award.

Each official selection will receive one ticket to both screening sessions (Saturday and Sunday).   Tickets are $10 for each session via PayPal; any remaining tickets will be sold (cash only) on the day of the screening.  The seating capacity of the Maya Deren Theater is 70 seats, and it’s strictly enforced.

The list of official selections is available HERE

The screening schedule is available HERE

The list of award-winning movies and screenplays is available HERE

There will also be an Audience Favorite Award for each of the two screening sessions.

Movie awards will be presented at the conclusion of the session at which the movie is shown. 

Screenplay awards will be presented at the conclusion of Sunday’s screening.

Each accepted filmmaker and screenwriter will receive one pass that’s good for both screening sessions (Saturday and Sunday).

New Sponsor and Award:

We’re delighted to welcome Openfilm.com as a sponsor of this year’s film festival.  The top 3 movies will receive a 12 month Open Film Pro membership, worth $240. 

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The fifth Annual GIAA Festival of Short Movies and Screenplays (formerly known as the Festival of Short Films and Videos) will take place Saturday November 5 and Sunday November 6 at Anthology Film Archives in Manhattan.  Mara Lesemann  will again serve as Festival Director, with Debbie Klaar as Deputy Director and GIAA President Carlo Fiorletta as Artistic Director.

The festival is sponsored by the Guild of Italian American Actors (GIAA) but we welcome submissions from everyone. 

Movies can have a maximum running time of 30 minutes (including credits) and screenplays are limited to a maximum of 30 pages.  Submitted works can be on any topic and any genre, including dark and/or experimental work.  We welcome animation, documentaries, and music videos.

Submission Procedure:

Our preferred submission is Without A Box - simply click HERE to submit.  There’s no extra charge to submitters, we welcome on-line screeners for movies, and it facilitates tracking submissions.  However, if you prefer to use an off-line form, you can use our Submission Form.

Prizes and Awards:

We are very pleased to announce that we will be presenting a $100 cash award to the best movie and also to the best screenplay.

The top 3 movies will receive a 12 month Open Film Pro membership (see www.openfilm.pro). 

Medals will be presented for the best movie in each category (see below) and also to the best screenplays. 

The Audience Favorite Award will also be presented at each screening session. 

We will once again present the Italian-American Heritage Award to the movie or screenplay that best exemplifies the Italian immigrant experience.

We’re very pleased to have Final Draft as a sponsor of the Screenplay Competition.  The winner of the Best Screenplay Award Award will receive a certificate for a download of Final Draft 8 (value $289).

General Information:

Movies can be submitted in the following categories:

Very short fiction (15 minutes or less)

Short fiction (16-30 minutes)

Very short documentary (15 minutes or less)

Short documentary (16-30 minutes)

Very short animation (15 minutes or less)

Short animation (16-30 minutes)

Music video (15 minutes or less)

Screenplays are limited to a maximum of 30 pages.

They must be submitted in proper screenplay format.  All screenplays must be unproduced, unsold, and unoptioned.

Important note:  if you pay the student fee, you MUST provide a copy of your current student ID

Early bird Deadline:  April 4, 2011

Very short movies:  $25 (student:  $15)

Short movies:  $35 (student:  $25)

Music videos:  $25 (student:  $15)

Screenplays:  $30 (student:  $20)

Regular Deadline:  July 15, 2011

Very short movies:  $35 (student:  $25)

Short movies:  $45 (student:  $35)

Music videos:  $35 (student:  $25)

Screenplays:  $35 (student:  $25)

Late Deadline:  August 15, 2011

Very short movies:  $45 (student:  $35)

Short movies:  $55 (student:  $45)

Music videos:  $45 (student:  $35)

Screenplays:  $40 (student:  $30)

Notification date:  October 1, 2011

Mail entry form (see Submission Form),  fee, and movie (2 dvd’s) or screenplay to:

GIAA Festival of Short Movies and Screenplays

277 Fourth Street

Jersey City, NJ  07302

IMPORTANT NOTE:  DO NOT SEND BY ANY DELIVERY METHOD THAT REQUIRES A SIGNATURE!

For more information, e-mail:    filmfest@giaa.us or MaraLesemann@yahoo.com

Vincent Pastore (right), winner of the Best Actor Award, with GIAA President Carlo Fiorletta (left) & Festival Director Mara Lesemann

Stuart Smith & Tracey Birdsall-Smith, winners of the Best Movie Award for Tick Tock

Thomas Justino, winner of the Sunday afternoon Audience Favorite Award for With Anchovies...Without Mama

Best Screenplay winner Adrian Moss (left) with GIAA President Carlo Fiorletta