Student Blog: Shuran Zhang

Student Shuran Zhang writes a student blog about her experience volunteering at this year’s New York Film Festival. SVA was a sponsor of New York Film Festival 62.

Volunteering at the New York Film Festival 62 was an amazing experience.

The New York Film Festival has always been a highly anticipated event for filmmakers and film students in the city. As a film school student, I’ve always enjoyed participating in film festivals. So, when I learned that volunteer applications for NYFF62 were open, I immediately submitted mine. The application required answering a few questions and selecting the department you’d like to work in. I got into the Theater Operations Department, which is primarily responsible for managing tickets, organizing audience queues, answering questions, and running the microphone during Q&A sessions.

My first shift was at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Theater.

I was particularly excited because it was my first time working at the festival. I met my partner Tessa, a dancer who joined the festival because of her love for films. Our main responsibility was managing the audience lines, which might sound a bit boring, but the most rewarding part was meeting so many people who share the same passion for films.

I really enjoyed chatting with people in the standby line—it was fascinating.

I met a New York artist who always wears a dragon decoration on him, and he told me he’s been carrying it for decades. we ran into each other several times in different standby lines, and he would watch three to four films a day at NYFF.  Among the festival’s volunteer team, were elderly men and women, working professionals, and students. Many of them had been volunteering at the festival for years, all brought together by their love of cinema. It was truly heartwarming to witness.

Another perk of volunteering at NYFF is that you receive free film vouchers.

These vouchers can be used to redeem tickets for any NYFF film and are specially designed for volunteers. Getting these vouchers was actually one of the main reasons I wanted to volunteer at the festival—I hoped to watch more films. Even with the student discount, tickets can still be quite expensive. So, if you’re looking to see more films at NYFF on a film school student budget, I highly recommend volunteering!

I even got to pass the microphone for a Q&A session.

I loved running the microphone because it gave me the chance to listen to the entire Q&A session! It was an incredibly valuable experience to listen to the entire discussion with the filmmakers of All We Imagine As Light, Payal Kapadia and Miguel Gomes. They discussed how they found the inspiration to create this film and how they transformed that inspiration into a cinematic work. It was really interesting, as it gave me insight into the behind-the-scenes story of the film’s production.

The experience of volunteering at the New York Film Festival was incredible.

I got to meet people who love film, watch more films with the vouchers, and even hear filmmakers like Payal Kapadia and Miguel Gomes talk about their work. For anyone who loves films, volunteering at NYFF is a great way to be part of the festival.