CCNY’s TAFFNY is celebrating 10 years of the Americas’ cultures and people

The 10th edition of The Americas Film Festival New York (TAFFNY) opens on June 15 with the New York premiere of “As Bestas” (The Beast) by Oscar-nominated director Rodrigo Sorogoyen at the Instituto Cervantes New York. TAFFNY closes on June 22 with its awards ceremony for short films in competition at the National Museum of the American Indian followed by the N.Y. premiere of “Fancy Dance” by Seneca/Cayuga filmmaker, Erica Tremblay.

A cultural initiative of The City College of New York’s Division of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Center for Worker Education (City College Downtown), TAFFNY presents eight feature films and more than 30 shorts, celebrating the rich diversity of the stories, languages and cultures of the Americas. All events are free and open to the public, and all foreign language films are subtitled in English. Click here for the full program and showtimes.

The Americas Short Film Competition is dedicated to the promotion and exhibition of short audiovisual works by emerging filmmakers that portray the contemporary concerns of filmmakers living in the region. This year, TAFFNY shows over 30 short films competing for the Americas Award in the categories of animation, documentary, experimental and fiction. 

The jurors of the documentary and animation categories consist of director Izabel Acevedo, Queens College Professor Joe Rollins and LaGuardia Community College Professor Ana Maria Hernandez. In the categories of fiction and experimental, the jury consists of actress Tata Lopera, art curator Kevin Moore and multi-disciplinary artist Willard Morgan.

Juan Carlos Mercado, dean of CCNY’s Division of Interdisciplinary Studies and TAFFNY’s founder, said of this year’s festival: “We are celebrating 10 years and reaching this milestone; we can say with certainty that we are an artistic reference in the vast cultural richness of the city. With TAFFNY we continue to fulfill our mission of CUNY and City College, which is to support emerging talent in the Americas.”

Diana Vargas, TAFFNY’s artistic director, said, “Every year we find in the filmmakers and their films, the endeavors and concerns of the societies in which they live. On this occasion we wanted to emphasize issues such as migration, women in their struggle and the communities of native peoples who each time have a stronger voice to claim their visibility.” 

Click here for a list of TAFFNY’s partners and supporters.

About the City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. This year, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.