About
Our mission.
The Lower East Side Film Festival (LESFF) features the innovative work of creative, up-and-coming filmmakers, and showcases those films in the heart of New York City’s Lower East Side. The festival is a week of curated films, panels and parties with a focus on diversity, originality, quality, and impact. We are committed to creating an unparalleled experience that combines visionary, independent filmmaking with the counterculture spirit of the Lower East Side.
What makes us.
Content.
Independent short and feature films from all over the globe fill our downtown theaters in our highly curated screenings, as well as industry mixers, panels, and parties. Every event is uniquely LESFF - inventive, surprising, and always engaging.
Culture.
We provide a heavily engaged core community of trendsetters, filmmakers, industry insiders and New Yorkers that come back year after year. With a decade of sold out screenings, our audience craves exclusivity, creativity, and the unique LESFF experience.
Our History
May, 2025 will mark the 15th Anniversary of the Lower East Side Film Festival. In its inaugural year, the LESFF crew turned a Lower East Side pop-up space into a unique and intimate theater that featured a month long residency of sold-out screenings of some of the independent film community’s most innovative new talent. Since then, the festival has premiered hundreds of short and feature films, hosted thousands of audience members, and has been deemed “one of the most exciting under the radar film events in all of New York City” (Film.com). LESFF was featured in New York Magazine’s Approval Matrix (under “Highbrow/ Brilliant”), The New York Times, Interview, Entertainment Weekly, Hollywood Reporter, The New York Post, IndieWire, Variety, and many, many more.
Over the years, the festival expanded to bigger venues (the famous Sunshine Cinema, Anthology Film Archives, Soho House, The Crosby St Hotel, Village East Cinema) and created special downtown NYC experiences including Rooftop Pool Party Screenings, Drive-In Movie Theater Block Parties, World Premiere screenings, Industry Panels, Concerts, Comedy Shows, Video Installations. LESFF has also launched a podcast on indie filmmaking, Below the Line, and secured distribution for its up-and-coming independent filmmakers.
Past Lower East Side Film Festival judges and talent have included Ethan Hawke, Susan Sarandon, Willem Dafoe, Denis O’Hare, Laverne Cox, Rosario Dawson, Rami Malek, Parker Posey, Ilana Glazer, Tig Notaro, Dolly Parton, Indya Moore, Samantha Bee, Julio Torres, Pamela Koffler, Dana Brunetti, Natasha Lyonne, Marky Ramone, Rebecca Miller, Sasheer Zamata, Judah Friedlander, Lizzy Caplan, Amy Arbus, Justin Bond, Nick Kroll, Eliza Dushku, and many, many more.
Great films are made with creativity, innovation, and heart. In spite of the awesome and famous talent that has passed through our festival, LESFF will always seek out the undiscovered and underdog filmmakers who know that a huge budget does not equal a great film.
What the filmmakers have to say
“One of the best film festivals in New York. Amazing team, great events, fantastic films! Highly recommend”
— Serena Dykman, Filmmaker
“Great programming, excellent events, amazing staff. A gem of a festival.”
— Randy Yang, Filmmaker
“Loved this fest. Great screenings, with quality packed audience, a very responsive and personable staff, great festival events and I also like that its not WAY to big that you get a chance to meet everyone. So high quality. Def submit there. They are fantastic.”
— Mtume Gant , Filmmaker
“LESFF was phenomenal. Graciously hosted and thoughtfully organized by a truly fantastic team - who all put together such a thrilling experience in the heart of New York's historic Lower East Side.”
— Eric Jungmann, Filmmaker
