The 26th Annual Columbia University Film Festival (CUFF), a week-long program of screenings, dramatic readings and special events in New York. The celebration will continue with events to be announced for June in Los Angeles. This marks the second year that the festival is co-presented by the Film Society.

Columbia University’s School of the Arts Film Program is one of the most prestigious programs in the country and boasts a graduate list that includes Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty), Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia) and Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right) and an esteemed faculty that has included Milos Forman, Martin Scorsese, Emir Kusturica and Paul Schrader.

Ira Deutchman, Chair of the Columbia University School of the Arts Film Program stated,  “Each year, the Festival is an opportunity to take a step back and marvel at the amazing body of work that has been created by our students. We are very pleased that the Film Society is co-presenting the festival with us again this year. They are not only providing us a prestigious platform, but also validation of the quality of the work. It is an acknowledgement that there is no other film festival anywhere that showcases student work with such accomplishment, ambition and diversity.”

The Festival is the annual premiere of over 40 thesis short films and feature screenplays by MFA students in the Columbia University School of the Arts Film Program. Like Adam Davidson’s film, many of the films premiered over the past 25 years have gone on to win top awards and honors at prestigious festivals worldwide, including the recent Under, directed by Mark Raso, which won a Gold Medal in the Narrative category at the 2012 Student Academy Awards; I Am John Wayne, directed by Christina Choe, which was awarded the Grand Jury Sparky Award for Short Film at the 2012 Slamdance Film Festival; The Recorder Exam, directed by Bora Kim, won the 2012 DGA Best Woman Student Filmmaker Award, and High Maintenance, written and directed by Shawn Wines, which won a Silver Medal at the 2011 Student Academy Awards.

Free events on Monday, May 6 in the Film Center Amphitheater:
4:00pm – 6:00pm: CU Pitch Contest
7:00pm – 9:00pm: From Development to Deal: A Conversation on First Features, co-presented with Variety