AFF Education
sponsored by
Astoria Film Festival Education (AFFEd) has a proven record of delivering innovative, inclusive, and high-impact in-school, after-school media education programming for elementary, middle school, high school students, and young adults across New York City. Through partnerships with public schools, community centers, and local nonprofits, AFFEd provides youth with project-based learning opportunities to explore storytelling, filmmaking, podcasting, and media literacy understanding, while developing essential skills such as collaboration, problem-solving, communication, and confidence, as well as technical skills in operating filmmaking equipment including cameras, sound recording devices, and lights.
Founded as the education arm of Astoria Film Festival, AFFEd was established in 2018 to ensure that NYC youth—especially those from underrepresented communities—have equitable access to creative technology and media education.
We serve over 700 participants each year, across Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn, through school-day residencies, after-school programs, weekend workshops, summer intensives, senior workshops, youth internships, and media labs.
As part of our overall mission, we hire our former students, interns, lab fellows, and youth festival filmmakers to work with us as instructors in our programs, thus providing them with jobs as they pursue their own media careers. At present, all of our staff were former Astoria Film Festival students, interns, and/or youth festival participants.
Astoria Film Festival works to create a solid foundation for local youth who have traditionally been excluded from film & media by creating work for them and paying a living wage that allows for stability, creativity, and a supportive community during the most precarious time of a young artist’s life - the beginning!
We are happy to announce that CANON CAMERA USA has become an official sponsor of the Astoria Film Festival Education with a donation of several new video cameras to use in our workshops. Thank you CANON!
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School & Weekend Workshops
Guide participants ages 8-18+ through all phases of film production, from pitch to premiere, both in front of and behind the camera, in schools, after-school programs, and community centers.
Students learn about filmmaking jobs and terminology and how to ideate, create, and film/record a short film as a class. The basic filmmaking workshop takes 12 hours to complete and results in a short class film. Editing modules can also be added to the basic workshop to extend it to 16 hours or longer.
We occasionally offer a special shortened workshop (4 hours) where we focus on a basic intro to the terminology and the process of filmmaking and do NOT create a final film. For schools with existing film programs, we have offered workshops around specific areas including Lighting (G&E), Production Sound, Hair & Makeup Design, Costume Design, Directing Actors, Pitching Projects, Entertainment Marketing.
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AFFMedia Lab
We provide workforce development experiences throughout the year around filmmaking, post production, podcasting, social media creation, entertainment marketing, and festival coordination. Participants meet with Industry Professionals and gain skills and work experience in these various industries and can also earn credits/payments from their schools if applicable.
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Intergenerational Workshops
We provide intergenerational filmmaking workshops where young filmmakers interview local seniors or their own family members while also learning about the process of filmmaking.
The goal is to capture seniors’ stories - especially those around Queens - and promote inter-generational community interactions. The resulting work is highlighted in our annual festival as Queens Stories
AFFEd Instructors & Staff
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Nina Fiore EdM
Founding Director
BA, EdM Harvard University
FMR Viacom, MTV, Noggin, Sesame Workshop, PBS, CBS
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Jessica Ng
Lead Instructor/DP
Hofstra ‘24, Sinatra ‘20
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Raymond Heinichen
Lead Instructor/Screenwriter
Brooklyn College ‘25
Art&Design HS ‘21
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Nikhil Oza
Asst Instructor/Editor
Brooklyn College ‘24
ACTVF ‘20
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Valeria Alvarez
Asst Instructor/Camera Ops
Art & Design HS ‘26
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Baz Duarte
Asst Instructor/Camera Ops
SVA ‘30
Art & Design HS ‘26
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Salvador Angelo Gonzalez
Asst Instructor/ DP
SUNY Purchase ‘26
ACTVF HS ‘22
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Natalie Mahoney
Asst Instructor
MFA CCNY ‘26
BFA DeSales ‘24
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Jonas Wooh
Editor
Wesleyan ‘30
The New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies ‘26
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Clark Bunao
Editor
Lincoln Tech
Testimonials
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The Astoria Film Festival has these incredible educational programs for young people and many of them go on to work at AFF and/or be further involved with filmmaking. I appreciate all of their hard work in giving these kids the opportunity to learn new skills, get behind and in front of the camera, and see what they can create! It’s just magical
Elizabeth O’Connor, Parent
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Seeing my daughter on Festival Day, in that big Director chair, speaking with such ease about the challenges of filmmaking, at age 8, had me close to tears. I’m so glad she’s exploring all sorts of opportunities to see what might interest her in the future and I’m so grateful that AFF brings these opportunities to our young people in such a nurturing, and without boundaries, way.
Jo-Ann Grande Pjevac, Parent
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Astoria Film Festival has fun and informative camps for children at all levels of film experience. They are great with kids - giving them creative license, while still educating them on all aspects of film production. I recommend them for any child with an interest in film as a career or hobby! Also, Nina helped my son greatly with his audition for a film HS program, and I am happy to say that he got into the program!
Shubra Breivogel, Parent
AFFMedia Lab
The AFF Media Lab is a Workforce Development program that aims to empower historically-ignored youth between the ages of 17 and 30 throughout NYC, providing them with essential skills, hands-on experience, and valuable connections to pursue industry careers in film/tv/digital media production.
The AFFMedia Lab offers 3 months of free Master Classes, Lectures, Workshops, and Filmmaking Experiences, usually between October 1 and January 1.
Students can take classes a la carte and also have the chance to immerse themselves in a Series, with options including Filmmaking (producing/directing), Editing, Marketing, and G&E.
There is also a fully-online Zoom Careers Series, where students learn about various jobs in the industry from Industry Professionals.
Those who take the filmmaking series create their own group film during the Lab as well, which is then Premiered at our Youth Festival in the spring.
Testimonials
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I would definitely recommend the Astoria Film Festival Lab program. It allows you to learn about so many different roles in the media industry and you are also just able to put yourself out there creatively as well.
Sara Gamelin, 2025 Lab Fellow, Cornell
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I really appreciated all the workshops, especially gaffing and grip work, because I always wanted to improve my lighting skills and never had that type of instruction before. This program gave me the experience I wanted and the outlet to express my passion.
Alex Gamez, 2025 Fellow, HS of Art & Design
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When I first heard about the program I didn't expect it to be THIS broad and intensive. It really exceeded my expectations.
Ji-Won Ahn, 2025 Fellow, The Baccalaureate School for Global Education
