For the last three weeks of October, it felt like The Downtown Festival was everywhere. In its inaugural year, the festival electrified New York City’s arts scene, quickly emerging as a vibrant platform for independent filmmakers, musicians and artists. With sold-out screenings, unforgettable live performances and immersive events, each night was a fever-dream of artistic celebration, sprawling from underground venues to iconic spaces, bringing together a true melting pot of the city’s arts community.
At the heart of this cultural explosion is Rebekah Sherman-Myntti, filmmaker and connector-extraordinaire. Her vision for The Downtown Festival wasn’t just to showcase talent, but to rekindle the spirit of collaboration and community that once defined the city’s creative core. In a landscape often driven by competition, the Festival served as a powerful reminder of the magic that happens when artists uplift one another. Sherman-Myntti’s brainchild has quickly positioned itself as a pivotal player in the resurgence of New York’s indie arts culture, with everyone from emerging talents to industry veterans buzzing about its future.
On the film side, The Downtown Festival showcased a diverse lineup of films by fresh voices in cinema, including world and New York premieres of feature-length narratives, short films and music videos, with a focus on innovative storytelling and bold visual styles.
The Festival brought a real mix to the Roxy Cinema for a series of sold-out screenings, including the New York premiere of ’70s-style New York romp Messy by Alexi Wasser with a hilarious Q&A moderated by Chloë Sevigny, the New York premiere of Pet Shop Days by Olmo Schnabel (executive produced by Martin Scorsese), the world premiere of a walk-and-talk rom-com starring Kareem Rahma and Mary Neely with a Q&A moderated by Jeremy O. Harris, a unique selection of rare archival films from The Film-Makers’ Co-Op presented by Stephanie LaCava, Daniel Arnold and Alex Ross Perry, the New York premiere of Light Falls by well-known cinematographer/director Phedon Papamichael (Q&A moderated by Beach Fossils), Sam’s World by Lily Lady, sci-fi drama WWW.RACHELORMONT.COM by Peter Vack and Alonso Ruizpalacios’ supercharged NYC restaurant drama La Cocina and more. Recognizable faces turning up to the Festival included Laurie Anderson, Abel Ferrara, Michael Imperioli, Lucien Smith, Ronan Farrow, Lissy Trulie and Adam Goldberg.
As Wasser put it, “Rebekah Sherman-Myntti’s ethos of The Downtown Festival says it all: ‘when the system doesn’t work, create your own!’‘She’s really creating a movement. A platform for and celebration of independently made cinema that hasn’t really existed since the ’90s. She has great taste in programming, is an artist herself, and is responsible for creating a space for the resurgence of true independent cinema in downtown New York City.”
Sherman-Myntti says, “The Downtown Festival was born from a desire to create a space where independent artists could not only showcase their work but genuinely connect with each other. What makes this festival special is its multi-generational, interdisciplinary approach, where artists of all ages and backgrounds can come together and inspire one another. Bold, experimental, and truly independently-made work is often missing in today’s festivals, but here, it can find its home. The vibe is really collaborative and supportive. I think there’s a certain magic that happens when artists show up for their fellow artists. It’s exciting to see the kinds of connections being made at these events, and to imagine the work that might grow out of that.”
Regarding the current state of film festivals, Ross Perry says, “If you want to move away from financial influence over the sort of things that get made and exhibited, maybe the only path forward is creating a new one.” Creating a new one is exactly what Sherman-Myntti has done, and the Festival was met with enthusiasm from both attendees and participants, proving to be an exciting new fixture on the indie festival circuit.
The music weekend of The Downtown Festival felt like it was out of a different era. The first night was held at an old vaudeville theater in the Lower East Side, with performances by Liam Benzvi, Quiet Luke, Scarlet Rae, Pleasure Systems and Jordan Raf. The Festival also hosted a rock show at a loft space in Chinatown, featuring performances by Malice K, Arsun Sorrenti, Voyeur, Amiture and Headless.
“I really enjoy playing shows like the one put on by the Downtown Festival,” Arsun Sorrenti says. “It’s very memorable to just walk up a random nondescript staircase in Chinatown and end up in a great party with live music.”
For its final weekend, The Downtown Festival made a triumphant move uptown. An unannounced afterparty for Julian Casablancas and his band The Voidz at the legendary Minton’s Playhouse followed their show at the iconic Apollo Theater. The festival’s presence continued with an intimate reading at Scarlet, the jazz bar co-owned by Michael and Victoria Imperioli in the Upper West Side. The grand finale? A Club Chess closing night party at the Imperiolis’ other visually striking establishment, Dahlia, and its sister venue Harvest. For a crowd that rarely ventures above 14th Street, the uptown energy was nothing short of electric.
At its core, The Downtown Festival is an exhilarating celebration of artistry, creativity and unity. This isn’t just another festival on the calendar — it’s a must-attend for anyone serious about art and culture. The multi-disciplinary approach — merging film, music, art and live performance — makes for an unpredictable atmosphere where everyone feels like they’re part of something special.
Photography: Matt Weinberger
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