The Lower East Side Film Festival (LESFF) is back, folks!
Now in its 16th year, LESFF will return on April 30 through May 4, taking over downtown venues (primarily Village East Cinema) with a mix of premieres, shorts, throwbacks and some very downtown-coded events.
The festival, founded in 2011, is known for championing under-the-radar filmmakers who may not have Marvel budgets but do have something to say. Over the years, it’s expanded well beyond straightforward screenings into a full-on downtown happening, complete with parties, receptions and the occasional anything-goes programming twist.
This year’s lineup kicks off on opening night with the New York premiere of Run Amok, a debut feature from NB Mager starring Alyssa Marvin alongside Patrick Wilson and Margaret Cho. The film follows a teenager channeling trauma into a musical, which feels very on-brand.
Elsewhere, there’s plenty to dig into. The Ark, part of the festival’s “Stay Indie” spotlight, takes viewers into eastern Ukraine, where a family’s farm becomes a refuge for displaced animals during the war. A 25th-anniversary screening of Ghost World will bring cast members back for a reunion and Q&A, while the closing night film, Public Access, looks at New York’s public-access TV boom and its influence on today’s creator culture.
The broader slate mixes features with themed shorts blocks—everything from “Living the Dream” hustle stories to late-night, slightly chaotic “Mind F*ck Shorts”—plus premieres like Danny Is My Boyfriend, a lo-fi revenge comedy about two women dating the same guy, and The Plan, a one-take drama about a group of idealists unraveling. If you don’t want to commit to a dark theater the whole time, LESFF is also bringing back its free “Movies in the Park” series this summer, turning Tompkins Square Park into an open-air cinema.
Tickets are already on sale, with individual screenings, event-specific tickets (like the opening night and party) and a five-day all-access pass—priced at $115—that gets you into pretty much everything, including receptions and open-bar events. Fair warning: capacity is limited, and some of the buzziest events tend to sell out fast.
