The origins of the Nyx Horror Collective’s 13 Minutes of Horror Film Festival were simple — a sixty-second film challenge, a call to action for women filmmakers to submit micro-short horror movies with a folklore theme. A way to inspire and showcase the work of the next Nia DaCosta, Jennifer Kent or Karyn Kusama, with a platform to back these filmmakers. These humble beginnings with a cause quickly grew into a festival with a panel of judges made up of top women from the horror industry: Award-winning horror author Tananarive Due, VP of TV Development & Programming at Blumhouse Robin Jones, Academy Award-winning VFX Supervisor Sara Bennett and award-winning filmmakers and production designers Courtney and Hillary Andujar with Shudder as the festival’s official streaming platform.
There are plenty of women working within the genre, and the festival intends to give these creators a platform to elevate their exposure. Festival Co-Producer Mo Moshaty says, “Our drive to keep generating incredible opportunities for this festival really speaks to our tenacity and passion, as individuals and as a team, to dispel the myth of ‘no women, LGBTQIA+ or people of color working in the genre.’ We’re right here; you can’t say you don’t know any. Not anymore.”
One of the missions at Nyx Horror and with 13 Minutes is to give women horror filmmakers of all identities and backgrounds greater exposure and more opportunities through strategic partnerships with established industry professionals. With that in mind, the Festival has garnered support from production companies and film incubators that include Blood Oath (Starry Eyes, Satanic Panic) and Squid Farm Productions (Shudder Original Shook), as well as from development executives at Blumhouse [Get Out, The Invisible Man (2020)].
Nyx Horror Collective is a community of diverse women creators who develop, celebrate, and elevate original, women-led horror content for film, TV, and new media.
You’ll be able to stream all the short films from the festival right from your couch. Nyx Horror Collective’s 13 Minutes of Horror Film Festival will air for 32 days on Shudder from August 13 – September 13, 2021.
