In just its second year, the Vermont Film & Folklore Festival is already expanding its footprint in a big way: the newest Vermont film festival and the only international film festival in southern Vermont, has today announced that its second annual event will be held May 13-18, 2025, in Manchester and Brattleboro, Vermont.
Founded by a pair of indie film luminaries and recent Manchester transplants in 2024 — MovieMaker Magazine founder Tim Rhys and Filmmaker Magazine co-founder Karol Martesko-Fenster — this year’s edition will include events in both Manchester and Brattleboro. For those of you who are not Manchester natives (like this loud and proud writer), the two towns are about an hour’s drive apart, meaning that the events will now be available to an entirely new segment of the Vermont population.
Part of the appeal for the festival? A new partnership with Brattleboro’s Latchis Theater, which, per Friday’s announcement, will include the use of “four dedicated movie screens, a renovated vintage hotel, and an art deco lounge.”
Rhys, Festival Director and Co-Founder said in an official statement, “We are incredibly proud to be expanding VFFF in only its second year and are gratified that folks have come out so strongly in support of this event. This is a challenging time for the arts in general and for film festivals in particular, and many are struggling to keep their programming robust, so it’s a credit to the generosity of the people and businesses of southern Vermont that we’re able to bring even more films and filmmakers into our brave little state this year.”
The inaugural VFFF was held in May 2024, and featured more than 40 films from around the world, including award-winning American and international features, classic Hollywood features on 16mm, and an impressive selection of shorts and features by Vermont filmmakers.
The founders’ goal for the 2025 edition is to “feature even more concrete opportunities for Vermont filmmakers to produce and collaborate with each other on new work.”
Toward that end, they have also announced today that VFFF is sponsoring the $20,000 “VFFF Storytelling Grant,” which, via cash and in-kind assistance, will encourage one filmmaker/storyteller from Vermont or with strong Vermont ties to create a film in Vermont. The grant is geared to facilitate storytelling and film production in the Green Mountain State. Additionally, the festival has extended the final deadline for submissions to March 24.
Festival organizers are looking forward to expanded partnerships for 2025 and encourage anyone interested in the festival to get in touch with festival director Tim Rhys at [email protected].
