OUR VISION
The festival’s vision is to feature short films, photographs, short films and show case spoken word over the course of one weekend yearly. The festival became an international festival since year one.​ Our vision is to offer avenues and classes to those under-served to help young adults on their journey.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to foster the next generation of filmmakers and artists from underrepresented demographic areas in the film industry, including, but not limited to young women, BIPOC, Latinx, LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities as well as the neurodiverse communities.Â
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Through exhibition of their art, we create a platform for a diverse range of young artists to express themselves creatively and further their creative careers.
ABOUT US
The Urbanite Arts & Film Festival was founded in 2021 by Alex Armando Torres, a self-taught filmmaker, photographer and poet. As an Afro-Latino Gay male who did not see himself represented  either in front of us or behind the camera, he started producing worked focused on diverse underrepresented voices. Voices that have unique stories to tell. With that in mind, Alex decided to create this festival to give those voices a chance to tell their stories, one unique voice at a time.
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
We are dedicated to finding and curating a platform for young artists who are pushing the boundaries of cinema and avant-garde expression.
ALEX ARMANDO TORRES
CREATIVE DIRECTOR & PRESIDENT
AIDA SEDA
VICE PRESIDENT
SUSAN BELANICH
SECRETARY
ELIZABETH SALAS
TREASURER
MELANIE CORRINE
BOARD MEMBER
ROBERT D. SHAW
BOARD MEMBER
Fifth Year (2026)
One of our top three winners from year returned winning in their category. Submissions reached over 1,600 in year 5!
Forth Year (2025)
Increased submission times from max 10 minutes to max 30 minutes. Doubled submissions from year one.
Third Year (2024)
Moved venue locations to the Studio Theater in Exile located inside the Hudson Valley MOCA in Peekskill. Received a grant and hired poet Chantelle Ciara (Spoken Word Poet) to perform.
Second Year (2023)
Increased submissions by 30% by year two!
First Year (2022)
Created a space space for young artists to create art by using their smartphones. Entry fee is free!
Timeline
Key Milestones