Now in its 34th year, IFP’s Independent Film Week returns to Lincoln Center next month, running September 16 – 20 at various locations on the Upper West Side arts campus.

The not-for-profit Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) was born at the 1979 New York Film Festival to showcase and support independent films and filmmakers. With a network of more than 10,000 filmmakers and supporting the production of more than 7,000 films, IFP publishes Filmmaker magazine, hosts workshops, seminars, conferences, mentorships including Independent Film Week. IFP has helped highlight and profile pioneering independent filmmakers such as Charles Burnett, Todd Haynes, Mira Nair, Michael Moore, Joel and Ethan Coen, Kevin Smith, Todd Solondz and Wayne Wang, among others. More recent projects and filmmakers have included Lauren Greenfield (The Queen of Versailles), Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (Howl) and Erin Greenwell (My Best Day).

“Not only does Film Week remain an important space for filmmakers with unique vision to connect with industry and peers,” said IFP executive director Joana Vicente in a statement, “but it is also a destination for aspiring filmmakers and film fans alike to explore the art and business of 21st century storytelling with the Filmmaker Conference.”

This year’s Independent Film Week includes multiple components that will link independent filmmakers with financiers, executives and industry attendees.

165 documentaries and fiction films from around the world are part of this year's Project Forum. Projects include: Writer-director Greg Gilpatrick’s Zero Days about a detective who helps those abandoned by advancing technology in a futuristic New York; the coming-of-age story, Hide Your Smiling Faces, written, directed and produced by Daniel Carbone; or the Pakistan documentary, These Birds Walk, by directors Basam Tariq and Omar Mullick. As well as new projects from Academy Award winner Daniel Junge (Saving Face) and Academy Award nominees Sam Cullman (If a Tree Falls) and Jennifer Redfearn (Sun Come Up). Find the full list of projects here.

The annual FILMMAKER Conference, organized with IFP's Filmmaker Magazine, will again feature conversations about film’s future with industry innovators. Check out the conference schedule and purchase tickets here. The magazine, celebrating its 20th anniversary, will also present Reinvent: Media Arts for the 21st Century, a series of short talks from innovators in the media arts.

Finally, this year's Focus Forward Industry Initiative will include debate and discussion pegged to the future of  visual storytelling, including opportunities to visit with professionals in creative media.

For more information on 2012 Independent Film Week, please visit the IFP website.