Nevada City Film Festival (NCFF) is once again putting Nevada City on the map! The award-winning film festival has been nominated in USA Today’s 2023 10Best Readers’ Choice travel awards for a second time. In 2020, the festival was awarded the #3 spot. Their expert panel selected NCFF as a contender for Best Film Festival, which launched last week. Also included on the list is such iconic film festivals as Sundance, SXSW, and Telluride, and smaller niche festivals like Frameline, MountainFilm, and Slamdance.

The contest gives voters four weeks to vote for the candidate of their choice at https://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-film-festival-2023. A person can vote once a day for the run of the contest. Voting ends Monday, March 20th and the winners will be announced on 10Best on Friday, March 31st.
The USA TODAY Travel Media Group sites rank among the top ten most-visited travel information sites in North America. The 10Best.com site provides users with original, unbiased, and experiential travel content of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world.
“We were blown away to be named #3 in 2020, but to be included in the awards for a second time, is really amazing! It’s such an honor for our community to be mentioned alongside these famous, well-respected film festivals,” says Jesse Locks, NCFF Executive Director. “Here is our chance to show the world how much Nevada County loves and supports independent filmmaking and filmmakers.”
Since 2001, NCFF has brought top independent film, music and comedy, along with attracting thousands of attendees, international filmmakers, and industry guests to Western Nevada County.
NCFF is often referred to as the “Sundance of the Sierra” for its emphasis on fiercely independent cinema and showcasing innovative, progressive and exciting new voices in film. In 2022, NCFF was named for a third time by Moviemaker Magazine as one of the top 50 film festivals in the world worth the submission fee for filmmakers.
This year’s festival moves from its usual end of summer spot to kick of things June 25-27, 2023 with a three-day indoor and outdoor film screenings, panels and workshops for filmmakers and festival attendees, filmmaker Q&A’s and coffee talks, after-parties, virtual reality experiences, nature hikes and outdoor excursions, and other special events.
“NCFF is definitely one of the smaller regional film festivals on the list,” says Locks. “No matter where we land on the list, this is an amazing opportunity that raises the profile of our community on a national level, which can go on to help with attracting tourism dollars, new businesses, awareness of our thriving arts community and cultural districts, possible film productions, and so much more.”