The Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival is delighted to announce the creation of the Kate Hearst Prize, a new long term, annual award for MNFF filmmakers that will have its inaugural winner at the 8th Annual Festival this coming August 24-28. The Kate Hearst Prize will be given to a feature or a short film that explores human connectivity in our increasingly interdependent world by revealing vital relationships between individuals, local communities, global collectives and/or species who share our planet. Dr. Hearst is a film scholar and historian, and a long time supporter of the Festival who has served on its jury, conducted numerous Q&As and moderated panel discussions since MNFF's inception. The Festival is extraordinarily pleased to add the Kate Hearst Prize to its roster of important and valuable awards to new filmmakers from around the world.
"The Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival is near and dear to my heart, having been involved since its inception in 2015," said Dr. Hearst. "I strongly believe in the mission of the Festival to support new filmmakers, who bring new voices to independent filmmaking, and who have so much to offer with their exceptional work. In creating this prize with its theme of connectivity, we are recognizing the relevance of the filmmaking endeavor as it strives to illuminate individuals, local communities and global entities who are forging a broader discussion of what it means to share our fragile planet. I look forward to giving this prize to filmmakers of distinction in the years ahead.”
MNFF sincerely thanks Dr. Hearst for her generosity and sustained support of the Festival and the new filmmaker community.