Centrally Isolated Film Festival

The Festival:

The Centrally Isolated Film Festival (CIFF), is an annual undergraduate run film festival.  We show short undergraduate films created by students studying in upper state New York.  CIFF was initially created with the goal of helping undergraduate students get exposure and feedback on their work.  

Each year, all submitted films are viewed by the CIFF Team, and selected films are distributed between the two nights of the festival, one showcase night, and one judged competition night. Films are split into three categories: documentary, narrative, and experimental.  We invite three judges to rank and provide feedback on the films submitted in each of the categories.

Our Growth Goals:

As a small film festival, we believe that these changes will help CIFF to grow beyond a simple student run film festival.  We want CIFF to become a tradition, an event and a community that is a highlight of the undergraduate experience, something that people will enjoy, value, and return to year after year.

This year CIFF will grow to include a workshop and a new prize category.  In future years, we plan for additional growth.

 In the long term, we hope to:

• Reduce and eventually eliminate entry fees
• Create a CIFF archive of all our past winners and entries
• Run additional workshops throughout the year
• Collaborate with film students screening thesis work

For those of us who have worked on the festival in the past, we look forward to continuing a beloved tradition.  For our newer members, CIFF is an exciting opportunity to make the most of the student filmmaker experience!

Your Impact:

This year will be our fourth annual festival.  Your contribution will allow us to expand.  In our first few years, we have come to realize new goals for the festival based on the films we showcase each year.  Over the past few years, we have noticed that the submissions we get different schools have distinct strengths.  Some submissions have more strength from a narrative standpoint, while other have stronger technical execution.  

We hope to broaden the student experience by adding a workshop for festival participants, and creating a new category for collaborative films on competition night.  Money raised will go toward bringing in guest judges from the film industry, lowering the entry fee for submissions, and providing decorations, prizes, and refreshments for the festival weekend

By holding a workshop and creating a prize for collaborative film, we hope to foster crossover between the distinct undergraduate film making communities in upstate New York, and provide more learning opportunities for everyone affiliated with the festival.  Projecting forward, we hope to expand even more, creating a community beyond the event and bringing centrally isolated film makers together.

Donate now, help us continue a loved tradition, and expand the community of student filmmakers in upstate New York!