Nothing like a mini-film festival in April to get us prepped for both STIFF and SIFF, which arrive in May.

NFFTY (pronounced “Nifty”) is the “National Film Festival for Talented Youth”, and showcases the best young directors 22 and younger from around the world. This 4-day festival takes place April 26-29, with films and events at the Cinerama, SIFF Cinema at the Uptown, and the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. I'm probably also supposed to say it's "presented by bing(tm)" (HI MICROSOFT). 

I'm always excited to see fresh talent, but this year I'm most stoked about the music video mixtape on Saturday 4/28: 90 minutes of original music videos with music from the White Stripes, Cults — and a bunch of other bands I'm not cool enough to know of, but I'm sure are great. Seems like an awesome way to spend $11 to me! 

And in case you feel like getting extra nerdy, there's also a FREE music for film panel at 12:45 on Saturday, where you can learn about options for scoring the best music for your…um. score. Or something. Listen and learn! For free! YAY! 

There are a lot of other great films and events happening too. Check the full schedule online so you can plan your own awesome NFFTY weekend. 

{Music Video Mixtape | Saturday April 28, 3:00 pm | 90 min | SIFF Uptown 2 }