NEW YORK, NY, September 29, 2014 – The Equus Film Festival is coming to New York City on Friday, November 21st and Saturday, November 22nd to highlight and reward the diverse and creative efforts of those in indie film, music, and advertising, who artistically pay homage to the horse through media. 

The Equus Film Festival is the first indie film festival orientated around equestrian themed content from around the world. The films and commercial content show the rich history and diverse tapestry of the horse in human culture, film, the arts, and advertising. The festival will feature more than 50 films and creative works running across three separate screens.

The organizers have chosen MIST Harlem (46th West, 116th Street) as the debut location. MIST Harlem is a three-screen, fair trade social venture planned, programmed, and built to share the authentic and diverse cultures of the African and Latino diaspora. Many of the films featured in the Equus Film Festival feature Native American, Latin American, and African equestrian culture. There are also films that deal directly with human/horse therapy, family, sports, dance, drama, psychology, music, spirituality, and the rich diversity of the horse in art.

According to Lisa Diersen, who founded the event several years ago, “These films help shed light on the overlooked side of the global horse community, which is not as well known or understood in mainstream media. Horse people speak a universal language, which is a shared love and concern for these majestic animals, which have so touched and shaped humanity for centuries.”

Several of the more than fifty films on the marquee for the two-day event deal directly with controversial issues that are only superficially discussed in pop culture conversations, but are more deeply understood by people dealing directly with horses in both urban and rural settings. Sarah Chase, Chief Business Officer for Horse Lifestyle Media stated, “These are films that deal directly with today’s most sensitive and sensational issues. From horse-assisted therapy, to the Bureau of Land Management’s treatment of the wild mustang, and even the horse carriages here in New York, the Equus Film Festival is bringing to the forefront those filmmakers who have rolled up their sleeves to dive deep into the tough issues. Through these films and creative works, people can start to formulate a more reasoned understanding of what these issues are really about.”

The Equus Film Festival will run from 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. each day, with “green grass” carpet roll outs for sponsors, celebrity guests, and other VIPs. Friday night’s program will end with a panel discussion featuring several filmmakers and celebrity guests. Critically-acclaimed director Mary Haverstick will moderate the panel, which features Emmy Award-winning producers, filmmakers from the United Kingdom and France, and film professors.

Saturday’s program will begin with a special Children’s session, featuring family-friendly media and stories. The children’s segment will begin at 10:30 a.m. and run until noon. On Saturday night, the festival will wrap with an exclusive VIP Awards Party for the 2014 honorees.

For more details about the Equus Film Festival, please visit: www.EquusFilmFestival.org.Tickets will go on sale in early October and will be available on the web site. Join the film community on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/EquusFilmFestivalNYC  and Tweet your comments using #EFFNYC

Run of Show:

Friday, November 21:

Starts: 12:00 p.m.

Ends: 9:00 p.m.

Panel Discussion: 9:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

 Saturday, November 22:

**Special Children’s Film Session: 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Starts: 12:00 p.m.

Ends: 9:00 p.m.

VIP Awards Party: 9:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m.

The Equus Film Festival is the first expansion of an already established multicultural event, which has been successfully held outside Chicago as part of the Festival of the Horse and Drum, created by Illinois-based Equus Concepts.