Monadnock International Film Festival

Recently named as "Up and Coming Film Fest" by New Hampshire Magazine's "Best of New Hampshire" issue, the Monadnock International Film Festival (MONIFF) showcases high-quality independent cinema every April in the beautiful Monadnock Region, known for its vibrant arts culture and Mt. Monadnock, one of the world's most climbed mountains. 2021 will mark the ninth annual festival. We are hoping to hold an in-person event in downtown Keene and neighboring Peterborough. However, with the uncertainty that COVID-19 brings, we may pivot to a hybrid virtual and in-person event. MONIFF features award-winning films on the festival circuit, both domestic and foreign, along with premieres of regionally produced films by New Hampshire and New England filmmakers. Our mission is to celebrate independent films by offering audiences compelling stories from here at home and around the world, exposing them to diverse cultures, lifestyles, and points of view. We screen narrative and documentary feature-length films as well as animated, narrative, and documentary shorts. Films are typically screened in the historic 880-seat Colonial Theatre in downtown Keene as well as the Putnam Theatre at Keene State College and the Peterborough Community Theatre. In 2020, we moved to the virtual platform Eventive in response to the pandemic. We bring guest filmmakers to our festival to engage with audiences in lively Q&A discussions after screenings and participate in film industry panels. The highlight of our festival is the Jonathan Daniels awards ceremony, honoring Keene's Civil Rights hero and given to a filmmaker whose film combines artistic excellence with awareness around a timely social issue. Our first-year recipient was renowned filmmaker and local resident Ken Burns for his documentary, "Central Park Five". Other recipients include Brian Oakes, director of "Jim: The James Foley Story"; Beth Murphy, director of "What Tomorrow Brings"; and Talya Tibbon, director of "Sky and Ground". At the Saturday night ceremony, we also give Audience Choice awards to Best Documentary Short, Best Narrative Short, and Best Documentary Feature.