YoFi Fest filmmakers
Ten Day Yonkers Film Festival Kicks Off with over 100 Independent Films -“Yonkers is Hollywood on the Hudson”
YoFi Fest launched its annual festival eleven years ago as a small non-profit with a mission to
raise the level of arts and culture in its community by showcasing the work of independent filmmakers and providing educational and cultural opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t exist in the area. This year, the organization is more committed than ever to to not only continuing that mission, but expanding on it, so from November 10th through November 19th, YoFi Fest will present around 125 films from 24 countries, as well as from right here in our own backyard. The films include features, documentaries, shorts, animation, music videos, web series, and student work.
“When we started the film festival nine years ago, Yonkers wasn’t known as a film-friendly city,” added Steck, “But with an increasing number of movies and television shows shooting here, and a new studio complex right outside our YoFi Digital Media Art Center, it’s beginning to feel like people are realizing what we’ve know for awhile—Yonkers is Hollywood on the Hudson!”
Most of the film programs will be followed by a live Q&A where the audience has the opportunity to ask the filmmakers questions about their movies. “The filmmaker talkbacks are one of the best parts of the film festival,” said Patty Schumann, the festival’s co-founder and programer, “This year almost every one of our filmmakers plan to attend their film’s Q&A.”
The festival provides an amazing opportunity for audiences to watch films that they might not see anywhere else. FilmFreeway named YoFiFest one of the “Top 100 Best Reviewed Festivals” nine times. It’s also been named “Best of Westchester” twice by Westchester Magazine, and it was named as one of the top ten reasons Yonkers was voted the “Hippest Town in the Lower Hudson Valley” by The Journal News/LoHud.
All the screenings and workshops are being held in downtown Yonkers within a few blocks of each other at either the Yonkers Riverfront Library theater, directly across the street from the Yonkers Metro North Train Station, or YoFi’s own year-round DMAC (Digital Media Art Center). The festival is convenient to public transportation, as well as several nearby parking lots.
Besides the festival, YoFi offers year-round programs, screenings and events throughout the winter and spring. This year it piloted its new TEAM (Training for Employment in the Arts and Media) program that gives 18-26 year olds the skills they need to enter the entertainment industry in entry level positions. The program is preparing to expand and start its next cohort in January, 2024. The participants will receive classroom instruction, as well as location visits, mentorship and job placement.
Information and tickets are available at YoFiFest.com
