Wednesday, April 22, 2026

The Lower East Side Film Festival returns for its 16th edition

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The countdown is on for the 16th edition of the Lower East Side Film Festival, taking place April 30-May 4. 

This year's fest opens with "Run Amok," an invigorating drama from Brooklyn-based director NB Mager (her feature debut), with a cast that includes Alyssa Marvin, Patrick Wilson, Margaret Cho and former EV resident Molly Ringwald. 

Of particular local interest: the festival will close with David Shadrack Smith's documentary "Public Access," which looks at New York's public-access TV boom in the 1970s and '80s. 

As always, LESFF leans into emerging filmmakers, shorts, and offbeat programming — along with Q&As, panels and after-hours events. 

Screenings are typically held at the Village East by Angelika on Second Avenue and 12th Street, with additional events around the neighborhood. (Find the full schedule here.) 

At the Village East, I met festival directors, East Village residents, partners in life and work, Tony Castle and Roxy Hunt, plus their son, Leo, for a walk-through...
The two have been behind the Lower East Side Film Festival since its scrappy start in 2011, when it began as a pop-up on Norfolk Street with folding chairs and brown bags of alcohol. (The two started the fest with filmmakers Damon Cardasis and Shannon Walker.) 

Sixteen years on, they say the festival remains fiercely independent, filmmaker-first, and rooted in the same anything-goes downtown energy.
Previously on EV Grieve: 
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