A new festival is in town to celebrate the first-time achievements of both emerging and established filmmakers.
The aptly named First Time Fest will take place in New York City March 1-4.
To help kick off the inaugural event, legendary director Martin Scorsese will present the festival's first John Huston Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinema to Darren Aronofsky.
The grand prize will offer a new filmmaker theatrical distribution of their film and international sales representation.
Sofia Coppola, Amy Ryan, and Philip Seymour Hoffman are also a few of the renowned guests who will partake in the festival.
Coppola's own critically acclaimed first film, "The Virgin Suicides," is among the films to be screened in the festival's First Exposure lineup.
The films up for the grand jury prize include the following. From the press release:
BLUMENTHAL - New York Premiere. USA, 86 minutes. Written and directed by Seth Fisher. With Fisher, Brian Cox, Mark Blum, Laila Robins, Mei Melançon.
HEADFIRST (LA TETE LA PREMIERE) - U.S. Premiere. Belgium/France, 89 minutes. Written and directed by Amélie van Elmbt. With Alice de Lencquesaing, David Murgia, Jacques Doillon.
HORIZON SKY - World Premiere. Belarus, 133 mins. Written and directed by Dmitry Marinin, Andrey Kureychik. With Leonid Pashkovsky, Tatyana Bovkalova, Viktor Rybchinsky, Anna Sirotina.
I LOVE YOU ALL (LOS QUIERO A TODOS) - U.S. Premiere. Argentina, 75 mins. Written, directed, and produced by Luciano Quillici. With Ramiro Aguero, Santiago Gobemori, Diego Jalfen, Valeria Louis, Leticia Mazur, Margarita Molfino, Alan Sabbagh.
JUNCTION - USA, 90 mins. Written and directed by Tony Glazer. With Tom Pelphrey, Neal Bledsoe, Harris Doran, Summer Crockett Moore, Anthony Rapp, David Zayas, Michael O’Keefe
MONGOLIAN BLING - U.S. Premiere. Australia/Mongolia, 90 mins. Documentary, directed by Benj Binks.
SAL - New York Premiere. Chile/Argentina, 112 mins. Written and directed by Diego Rougier. With Fele Martínez, Patricio Contreras, Sergio Hernández, Javiera Contador.
SUBMERGE - World Premiere. Australia, 90 mins. Directed by Sophie O’Connor. With Lily Hall, Christina Hallett, Kevin Dee, Georgia Bolton.
SUMMERTIME - New York Premiere.USA, 90 mins. Written and directed by Max Weissberg. With Lethia Nall, Eric Garcia, Rob Hollander, H.R. Britton, James Eason, Jenny Grace, Olivia Horton, Michele Cesari.
UPRISING – USA/Egypt, 85 mins. Documentary directed by Fredrik Stanton.
URBAN TALE - U.S. Premiere. Israel, 90 mins. Written and directed by Eliav Lilti. With Barak Friedman, Noa Friedman, Esti Yerushalmi, Zohar Shtrauss, Ohad Knoller, Michal Shtamler.
ZIPPER - USA, 77 mins. Documentary directed by Amy Nicholson.