Jo Rosenthal sat down with Rebekah Sherman-Myntti to talk about what inspired her to launch the iconic Downtown Film Festival, how the festival has grown, and what keeps her coming back with a new vision and purpose, year after year.

Autumn in New York City brings a thrilling shift in energy. The air turns crisp, the leaves catch fire with vibrant colours, and the city enters that sweet spot where the sweetness of summer still lingers, but everyone’s eyes are already turning toward the festiveness of the holidays. It’s during this in-between season that the Downtown Film Festival lights up the cultural calendar, bringing fresh voices and bold stories to the screen.

At the heart of this cinematic celebration is Rebekah Sherman-Myntti, the founder and creative force who began the festival, according to her, “when I realised how many brilliant, independent-minded artists were creating work without the right context or community around them. I’m an action-oriented person,” she continues, “and I felt a real need for an artists-for-artists space that could celebrate distinct voices and perspectives.” What ultimately drove** **Sherman-Myntti was a growing disconnect between artistic innovation and institutional recognition. The festivals that once launched visionary careers had, in many cases, become red carpets for studio-backed projects, often sidelining the kinds of unconventional work she believed in. “Too many major festivals have drifted into becoming marketing platforms for studios rather than springboards for new voices,” she explained. The Downtown Film Festival, then, became her answer: a gesture rooted in community and creative risk that’s aimed at giving artists space to not only show their work, but to find each other.

Photography by Chiara Gabellini

From its inception, the festival has embodied that ethos of artists supporting artists and making room for stories that don’t fit cleanly into any box or genre. This year’s lineup was vibrant with work by women directors, including Charlotte Ercoli, whose debut feature Fior Di Latte left the audience roaring with laughter and awe. The film, a tender, absurd, and sharply original story about longing and memory through scent, felt alive in a way that’s hard to pin down. Watching it unfold on screen, I couldn’t help but imagine how incredible it would be as a stage production. It had that rare emotional elasticity that could stretch beautifully across mediums. Ercoli’s voice, like so many highlighted this season, is precisely the kind Sherman-Myntti hoped to amplify: fearless, emotionally intelligent, and formally inventive.

Photography by Chiara Gabellini

While the festival is anchored in Lower Manhattan, Sherman-Myntti is quick to point out that ‘downtown’ is less about geography than it is about energy. “It’s about fearless creativity, multi-disciplinary collaboration and experimentation, and above all, a community-minded approach to making and supporting art,” she says. That spirit runs through the festival’s programming, which draws work from all over the world. For Sherman-Myntti, the goal has always been to create a bridge between legacy and innovation and to make space for artists who define themselves on their own terms rather than by trends or institutional approval. “It’s amazing to see what happens when you put the right people in the same room,” she adds. The result is a space where emerging voices sit alongside seasoned icons, and the history of downtown culture is in constant dialogue with its future.

Photography by Chiara Gabellini

Another standout moment from the festival was a programme of shorts by Ryan Trecartin, whose work continues to feel as disorienting, electrifying, and ahead of its time as ever. Watching his films in a packed room, it was clear just how deeply his aesthetic and sensibility have seeped into the language of contemporary art and internet-era filmmaking. The rapid-fire editing, the surreal character monologues and the hyper-glossed chaos still hit with the urgency of a transmission from the future. Trecartin not only carved out a lane for himself, but also helped blueprint an entirely new way of seeing and creating. It’s no exaggeration to say that he’s one of the reasons so many young artists feel permission to make the kind of work they do today. Those in the room had hearts in their eyes.

If there’s one thing Sherman-Myntti has learned from building this festival, it’s that collaboration isn’t just a method, it’s a movement. “Filmmaking is inherently collaborative,” she explains, “but that truth extends to nearly every creative field.” For her, the most thrilling moments happen in the overlaps: when a musician experiments with directing, when a filmmaker draws from sculpture or when a journalist composes a score. These are invitations to listen and to make something none of the participants could have created alone. That spirit is deeply embedded in the Downtown Festival, where artists are not just showcasing work, but feeding off each other’s momentum. “Cross-pollination is what keeps culture alive,” she says, and watching the audience spill out into the street each night, it’s clear she’s right. The connections made here ripple outward and make everyone feel like they are part of something.

Photography by Chiara Gabellini

One of the most unforgettable screenings of the festival was the debut of Love New York, a two-hour feature by Anthony DiMieri that managed to feel both epic and intimately raw. Clocking in at a length that might challenge some first-time directors, the film instead held the room in quiet suspension, unfolding with an emotional clarity that struck a nerve and brought laughter in a way that was personal to each audience member. DiMieri’s portrayal of city life felt deeply lived-in, like something made not just about New York, but from inside it. As the credits rolled, there was a short silence before applause erupted, the kind that signalled both admiration and recognition. People lingered afterwards, visibly moved. Despite its runtime, Love New York left audiences wanting more, not because it was incomplete, but because it tapped into something they weren’t ready to let go of.

Behind the buzz of premieres and packed screenings lies another layer of the festival: the labour, long nights, and emails that quietly change the course of a career. Sherman-Myntti knows this terrain intimately. “It took many, many sleepless nights to make this festival happen,” she admits, “but what keeps me going are the moments when I hear from an artist I’ve long admired, or a new filmmaker sharing their work for the first time, saying they believe in what we’re building.” One of the moments that crystallised that impact came during a screening of What About Me, when filmmaker Rachel Amodeo met critic Richard Brody for the first time; despite years of Brody championing her work in print, they had never crossed paths until that night. And just before that, a first-time filmmaker found themselves in deep conversation with Abel Ferrara. “Moments like that remind me exactly why this exists and needs to continue to exist,” Rebekah says.

Photography by Chiara Gabellini

What About Me screened to a deeply engaged audience, and it was one of those rare films that felt like it held the collective memory of New York in its bones. Directed by Amodeo and initially released in the early nineties, the film remains a raw, haunting portrait of a city teetering on the edge, told through the eyes of a young woman drifting through its underground. Watching it now, especially in the context of the Downtown Festival, was a revelation. Rather than mere nostalgia, the film felt like a confrontation with the soul of a place that’s constantly reinventing itself. The room was electric with the film’s emotional weight and the recognition that this is a work every New Yorker should see. It’s a reminder of what this city gives, what it takes, and what it means to be adrift and alive within it.

As the Downtown Film Festival enters its second year, Sherman-Myntti remains fiercely committed to maintaining its independence, a freedom she considers one of the festival’s greatest strengths. “We don’t answer to corporate partners, institutions, or external agendas,” she says, “and that allows me to be very thoughtful about every decision.” In an era when many festivals lean on safe bets and heavy sponsorship, the Downtown Festival pushes back, prioritising creative risk and work that defies categorisation. For Sherman-Myntti, inclusion is not a buzzword, but a core practice that ensures opportunity isn’t dictated by access or connections but by originality and fearlessness. Her focus on curiosity, sincerity, and cross-generational dialogue made the festival a truly alive and unpredictable space.

Photography by Chiara Gabellini

For anyone looking to find or build community in this sprawling, often fragmented and discouraging city, the festival itself has become something beautiful and hopeful. It’s become a home for artists and audiences hungry for something real; a reminder that creativity rooted in courage and connection can reshape the world around us and give us something new to believe in.