New York, NY (01/02/2026): Original artwork by Matt Curtis has been selected to represent Winter Film Festival’s 2026 International Film Festival.
New York City’s 14th Annual Winter Film Festival (WFF) runs February 18-22 2026, and showcases creative fresh voices from emerging filmmakers worldwide in all genres and lengths – feature length and short, narrative fiction, documentary, animation, horror, web series and music videos. WFF’s mission is to promote diversity, bridge the opportunity divide and provide a platform for underrepresented artists and a variety of genres, viewpoints and approaches; only by seeing others’ stories can we understand each other and only via an open door can the underrepresented artist enter the room.
The 103 Official Selections are a diverse mixture of films, including 20 student films and 34 first-time filmmakers. Filmmakers come from 27 countries; half of the films were created by women, half created by people of color, 25% by New Yorkers and 15 returning WFF Alumni. Details are available at WinterFilmFest.org
About Matt Curtis
Freelance illustrator and designer Matt Curtis is known for creating original designs for Nirvana, Dead & Company, Wu-Tang Clan, Blue Moon Brewing Company, and a variety of other clients.
Matt spent his undergrad years at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and graduated in 2001. He worked doing a variety of different jobs while starting his illustration career, including making commissioned portraits and even painting storefront mannequins. His first big illustration job came a couple of years later when he was hired as the staff illustrator for a now-defunct monthly humor magazine,
Jest.
Matt has been working full time as an illustrator for about twenty years. In that time period he has developed his signature scratch-board style of illustration using just an iPad and an Apple Pencil.
He currently lives in upstate New York with his wife and son, as well as his three dogs, Frankie, Addie, and Salsa.
Visit https://curtisillustration.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/curtisillustration/ for more information about Matt and his work.
About Winter Film Festival
Winter Film Festival is an all-volunteer women and minority-run organization as part of Winter Film Awards Inc, a 501(c)3 organization founded in 2011 to celebrate emerging talent in local and international filmmaking.
The 14th Annual Winter Film Festival runs February 18-22 2026 includes a diverse mixture of animated films, documentaries, comedies, romances, dramas, horror films, music videos and web series of all lengths. Our five-day event is jam-packed with screenings and Q&A sessions at NYC’s REGAL Union Square, six Education sessions/workshops and a variety of filmmaker networking events all coming to a glittering close on February 22 with our red-carpet gala Awards Ceremony.
Winter Film Festival programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Promotional support provided by the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment.
For more information about Winter Film Festival, visit WinterFilmFest.org
email us at info@winterfilmawards.com and visit us at Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
