Big Apple Film Festival and Screenplay Competition

Overview

The Big Apple Film Festival and Screenplay Competition is a long-running New York City festival focused on independent filmmaking and screenwriting. It is notable for combining film screenings with a screenplay competition, industry networking, Q&As, and panels, and for being recognized as a prominent venue for emerging and established independent voices. The festival showcases narrative features, documentaries, shorts, student films, and other independent work from New York, the U.S., and abroad, and has been identified by MovieMaker Magazine as one of its notable film festivals.[2][4][6][9]

Last updated Oct 1, 2026

Legitimacy Analysis

Trust Signals

Festival Details

FilmFreeway communityGold festival

• Timothy A McGheeNov 2025

  I am humbled & honored of the Honorable Mention nod my film script "American Money" was given by Big Apple. Such distinction carries the street cred all us screenwriters seek. Thank you so much!

• Michael Thomas CainNov 2025

  The BIg Apple Film Festival is great! We had the NYC Premiere of our feature film TOP HATE as part of the fall 2025 festival, and we're grateful to the festival for this recognition and opportunity. Everything about the festival and everything that they provide is top notch. They provide great communication and lead you through the entire process. We definitely recommend the Big Apple Film Festival experience to everyone!

• Oliver AndersonNov 2025

  Grateful to have our music video and stop-motion animation "Death Comes to My Side" selected to be part of the fall 2025 festival with such an amazing amount of talent. It was a so much and there were so many great opportunities to network and continuously learn. Also thank you for the win for best music video! Thank you for the opportunity and I definitely recommend it!

• Barbara Weber-FloydNov 2025

  Big Apple Film Festival was a phenomenal experience and we enjoyed everything about it. We were honored that our documentary feature, Lessons from 100: Reflections in My Centennial Year, was selected for the Fall 2025 season and it was our NYC premiere. We enjoyed not just our screening but the entire week there, seeing the other films, meeting the other filmmakers and attending the closing networking party. Communication with the staff, in particular Jonathan and Devina, who were always accessible, was prompt and encouraging. And the promotions of our film on social media were outstanding. We do wish we had been given a later time slot since we heard from so many people who wanted to attend but could not leave work at that time, cutting our audience in half. But even with the early screening, we had a wonderful crowd, everyone enjoyed the experience, from the film itself and the Q&A, to the red carpet photos and the food and service in the venue. And given that the star of our film is 101 years old, we greatly appreciated the kindness and accommodations that BAFF provided for him. We highly recommend Big Apple to other filmmakers and we can't thank Jonathan and his staff enough for including us.

• Linda TancsNov 2025

  I'm thrilled and grateful that BAFF advanced my script, MY IDEAL HUSBAND, to the semifinals! It's a satisfying result for my second feature film script and first rom-com!

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