Home videos are getting the Sundance treatment at the inaugural Not Another Home Movie Film Festival on Friday, February 20. Screenings take place at George Washington University’s Jack Morton Auditorium, and the festival features 16 films that combine home videos with family interviews and photos.
GW adjunct writing professor Hanan Daqqa is organizing the festival, inspired by an interview assignment during her master’s program. The professor recommended Daqqa, the only mother in the class, speak with her children. Daqqa recorded an interview with her then three-year-old son and realized she had captured a new perspective on her family’s story. The experience influenced a writing course where students create personal, family-focused films that are shown to the public, evolving into the festival four years later.
Daqqa began collecting submissions from around the world in June 2025. Of the 522 submissions, 16 films have made it into the festival lineup. Eight are international films, coming from France, Iran, Italy, Spain, and Turkey. Five movies are from GW students. “The idea is we are really globally human,” Daqqa says.
Relationships and personal stories are at the center of each film. Subject matters include a mother reflecting on her baby, a son who lost his parent, a filmmaker’s dog, and more.
The festival begins with a seated yoga warmup. Akshay Bhatia, a filmmaker and former assistant to Francis Ford Coppola, will also give a keynote address prior to the screenings.
Check-in starts at 5:30 PM, and Bhatia’s speech is at 6:10 PM. There will be screenings from 6:20 PM to 7:35 PM, followed by live voting for the Audience Favorite Award, an award ceremony, and a Q&A session. If you can’t attend the showing, there’s also an option to watch on Zoom. Tickets are available online. In-person tickets are $19, and virtual tickets are $13.
Samantha is an Editorial Fellow at the Washingtonian and a senior at American University, studying Political Science and Women’s, Gender, and Sexualities Studies. She lives in Washington, D.C.
