The 18th annual National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) kicks off Thursday, April 3 at SIFF Cinema Uptown with a gala opening-night ceremony and then then takes over all three of the venue's screens for the remainder of the weekend, along with offsite events at the Cornish Playhouse and the VERA Project. This year's lineup features filmmakers 24 years of age and younger from 29 states and 31 countries, with 60% of films directed by women and nonbinary-identifying people, and over 50% helmed by persons of color.

Celebrated Chasing Chasing Amy filmmaker Sav Rogers, a 2019 NFFTY attendee, returns to the festival, only this time as a mentor. He will deliver the keynote address on Sunday, April 6, but will also be available to interact with this year's crop of young people showcasing their shorts at the fest.

"I can't wait to return to Seattle and to NFFTY," exclaimed Rogers with a smile. "NFFTY changed my life. It feels like yesterday I brought my own short film to the festival. It's crazy to think I'm coming back as a mentor."

Rogers and I discussed his acclaimed 2023 documentary, why short films matter, and how NFFTY helps inspire and shape future generations of filmmakers year after year. The following are the edited transcripts of our wide-ranging conversation:

Sara Michelle Fetters: What does this mean to you to come back to NFFTY but this time as an alumnus and a mentor to a new generations of aspiring young filmmakers?

Sav Rodgers: It's very exciting. I'm so honored. I was lucky enough to play at NFFTY right before I aged out. That was something I was very proud of. To be able to return now in any capacity is wonderful, let alone being able to share my experiences making Chasing Chasing Amy with young filmmakers coming up right now...

One of things that's really helped me is to receive mentorship in a variety of capacities. I'm incredibly happy to be able to share and mentor now in any way [and pass on] lessons I've learned... — notably what not to do.

SMF: When you were at NFFTY, what did you learn that you took with you as you made a handful of award-winning short films and a successful and critically lauded documentary?

SR: I remember [thinking] at NFFTY, "This is the level I need to be on." The short that I had made was fine, and I was proud of it, but I was ... thinking that, wow, so many of these films are truly transformative. They were so inspiring to me... This was the bar I needed to ascend to. It was amazing.

I was raised as an athlete. I played a lot of sports. When I see people performing at a high level, I am inspired, and I aspire to get up there [with them]. To see my age and younger making some of the best works of the whole festival cycle, of the whole year, it made me realize how high the bar was. I mean, sitting there, getting the opportunity to connect with other filmmakers my own age and younger, to speak with so many incredible mentors, that was amazing. But I was also sitting there thinking to myself, "My work could be better. My work needs to be better." It was a challenge to work even harder.

And that's a valuable thing. To be able to reflect on your work. To have an honest conversation with yourself. I think that's maybe the most valuable thing I got at NFFTY back in 2019.

SMF: And now you get to pay that forward to a new generation.

SR: I'm excited about the opportunity to learn from them, first and foremost. I think we can learn so much from sharing. I hope I see an incredible work that makes me think about things I maybe would not have when I make my next film. I hope I meet somebody that gives me a new perspective on cinema.

But I'm obviously excited to share any and all of my experiences making Chasing Chasing Amy... I can't wait to answer the questions maybe I would have asked back in 2019 when I was an attendee at NFFTY. I look at what we've been able to do with Chasing Chasing Amy, and while making that film certainly didn't solve all of my problems as an independent filmmaker, I certainly know more now than I did back in 2019. I feel like I can show them how to avoid the landmines I stepped on along the way.

SMF: We're in a moment right now where words like "diversity," "equity," and "inclusion" are seen by some as a negative. But in the filmmaking community, it is those very same diverse voices from a variety of backgrounds that we want to hear from the most. Does seeing these films and interacting with these fresh, new voices make you hopeful for the future and the stories that will be told?

SR: It does. I think cinema continues to endure despite whatever challenges are being presented to independent artists. Diversity is not a bad word. Equity is not a bad word. Inclusion is not a bad word. Filmmakers of any merit at all already know this. Diversity of perspectives and voices in storytelling is what creates a rich cinematic tapestry and helps make it such an enduring art form.

To see filmmakers... exploring stories that maybe have never been told before or stories that are being told from a new, unexpected perspective [is] incredibly exciting. This will continue to improve the medium, but it also [gives] the audience an opportunity to walk in someone else's shoes, be that be for five minutes, for 90 minutes, or for three hours. That is... so thrilling.

SMF: Chasing Chasing Amy is such a unique documentary. It shows how cinema can literally change a life, even when it's controversial film or some might consider it problematic.

SR: My journey making short films up until... Chasing Chasing Amy was just about trying different things out. I wanted to see what I could with a couple of minutes of a person's time. What I could do with a budget that only allowed for a couple of minutes of storytelling. It was experimental, and not all of it was up to my own standards or a complete representation of what I was attempting to do.

But what those films did do was give me the opportunity to build community and... connections. They allowed me to have my films play in... venues where I was unsure if Queer films were going to be accepted [and] meet film curators. To interact with fellow filmmakers [and] learn. It was all an invaluable experience, especially because as everything I had done up until Chasing Chasing Amy was basically a student film.

When I looked back at my body of work, I knew I could do better... I knew I had something personal I wanted to say about Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy, about how that film affected me, and I knew that was a story only I could tell. With Chasing Chasing Amy, I found success in that. Nobody else could have told that story...

I wanted to talk about how our relationship with art, our relationship with film, and my relationship to Chasing Amy in particular could be such a transformative experience. What happens you know when you exist? What happens when you know you have a place in the world? That your voice matters? So I made Chasing Chasing Amy and I am extremely proud of it.

SMF: The constraints of the short film can force the filmmaker to be more innovative, daring, and creative in the ways they tell a story. Is that something you have found in your work?

SR: Most definitely. Short films are their own art form. I really dislike when people act like [short films] are a training ground only to make longer films. They can be, but the best short films in the world are made by the people who love to make [them]. They are an important part of our cinematic ecosystem.

SMF: Right now, it feels like it is a necessary act of rebellion to make a film with a distinctive voice on challenging topics that force the viewer to look at what's happening in the world around them in a different way, especially for Queer voices.

SR: I'll start by saying I am the guy out there who is saying that we need to give as much money as possible to Trans filmmakers to tell their stories in whatever form they can. That's something we're doing at the Transgender Film Center. This is important.

So, Trans authorship, Queer authorship in film is something that is very important to me. There is great value there, especially right now, when we're in a place where fascist ideology is creeping into every sector of public and private life. It is a scary time. For any Queer filmmakers who are out there feeling afraid, I want to validate and empathize first and foremost, but I also want to say that our work is needed more than ever.

I don't pretend to know what the future of Queer filmmaking is, but I'm still excited to see what is going to happen and what stories are going to be told. I want to see transgressive stories. I want to see four-quadrant popular blockbusters. I want to see everything that can happen in between. I just want more of it all.

I do think we are likely at the start of another era of angry Queer filmmakers, a la the start of the New Queer Film Cinema movement of the 1990s. A lot of us are angry, and we have every right to be.

SMF: Finally, for those coming to NFFTY looking to learn from you, if you had just one drop of advice that they could take to heart, what would that be?

SR: Don't wait for permission. Build your own communities and tell your stories by any ethical and safe means necessary. Tell your stories.

The 18th annual NFFTY returns for a hybrid festival: April 3—6 in person and April 3—April 13 virtually. Tickets and passes on sale now at https://www.nffty.org/nffty-2025.