Independent since 1997 – The 25th Green Mountain Film Festival is returning to Montpelier and Central Vermont in March 2026! We are grateful for your support to make this coming year’s festival a beautiful and expansive weekend of international and local film!
The Green Mountain Film Festival returned to Montpelier, Vermont in March 2024 after a 4 year hiatus. Since 1997, we have offered unique independent film programming in our downtown Montpelier and Central Vermont community — showcasing narrative, documentary, and experimental features and shorts from all over the world!
2025 GMFF Film Bumper
~ Meet Our Team ~
The GMFF Team is composed of local Vermont filmmakers, festival programmers, nonprofit professionals, and film enthusiasts.
Phayvanh Luekhamhan
Festival Director
Phayvanh was Montpelier Alive’s Executive Director from 2011-2014, and has been a staunch supporter of collaborative, creative community building.
She is co-creator of PoemCity, former coordinator of Montpelier Art Walk, and piloted the City’s parklet project. Phayvanh spent five years on VTDigger’s business team, growing the digital ad revenue fourfold with combined digital ad management and new product development.
She later went on to work with LION Publishers, a national organization that supports independent news businesses in the US and Canada. Currently, she is executive director for the Center for Arts and Learning, a nonprofit arts hub in downtown Montpelier. She cooks, crafts, and conspires during her free time. Contact Phayvanh at director@gmffestival.org
Sam Kann
Festival Programmer
Sam Kann (they/she) is an artist and programmer working across dance and film. Most recently, Sam directed a music video for Maria BC’s single “Lacuna” and produced the music video for Lucy Dacus’ “Night Shift.” Sam’s previous work has been shown at The Flynn, the Provincetown Film Festival, and Middlebury College, as well as DIY venues and non-traditional spaces including the Off Center, Life World, and various parking lots around New England. Sam founded the Plex Arts Festival, a multidisciplinary arts event in Burlington, and they have been the programmer at GMFF since 2023. Contact Sam at programmer@gmffestival.org
Theresa Murray-Clasen
Sponsorship Manager
Born and raised in upstate New York, spending summers in and around Bennington VT, it was a great job that led Theresa to Vermont.
After completing two and a half years in the US Peace Corps/Micronesia, she traveled the state working with regulated utilities while leading the Vermont Department of Public Service’s Consumer Advocacy Division.
Following the birth of two daughters, her professional work has crossed a variety of public sectors; sustainable food systems in public schools, food security within community, the advent of nonprofit digital media, and real estate.
She has served and continues to serve on numerous non-profit boards including "All Brains Belong," a community medical practice that focuses on neurodiversity and equitable inclusion within community, and the Montpelier Roxbury Public Schools Partners in Education.
A long time community volunteer, she is a fervent believer in collaborative, creative community building. Contact Theresa: theresa@gmffestival.org
Emma Garrison
Special Events & Volunteer Coordinator
Emma is a video producer and editor who grew up in Vermont and spent a long time living on the west coast before returning to the green mountain state to put down roots. She studied film and electronic media at the University of Denver and has been working as a producer and editor for over a decade. Over the years she has worn countless hats under a variety of titles, you might call her a jane-of-all trades when it comes to all things video production. She currently works with documentary film-makers on research and development to get projects off the ground. Contact Emma: hello@gmffestival.org
Carlos Diaz
FilmSlam Coordinator
Carlos Diaz is a cinematographer and editor from Puerto Rico who relocated to Montpelier, VT where he is raising his daughters. Graduated from The American Film Institute with an MFA in Cinematography. His Thesis film was short-listed for the student Academy Awards.
He has worked as a multimedia journalist in the Southeast Boston and new England area, nominated for an Emmy in multimedia journalism. He spend a lot of time thinking about art, theory, technique and the intersection between them. Drawing from his background in experimental media and traditional narrative structures, he explores the life breath of an image and how to translate the words of story into the visual.
His images have been shown at the MOMA, Istanbul Biennial, Whitney Biennial, Amsterdam International Documentary Festival and Havana Film Festival, and have appeared on MTVLA, and the documentary series ART21.
Jolynda Burton
Community Liaison - Schools
A vocal performance major at NYU, Jolynda spent a number of years as a performing artist and arts administrator in New York City after college. In 2017, she returned to her home state of Vermont with a breadth of nonprofit management experience gained in NYC and Philly. She has worked with Just Basics, the nonprofit that runs the Montpelier Food Pantry, is very active with the school community, and served 4 years on the board of MRPS Partners in Education (PIE).
Jolynda joined Monteverdi Music School at the end of 2022 to expand music education opportunities and strengthen the 40-year-old community music school. Her favorite thing is connecting the community with the arts in innovative, unexpected, and beautifully human ways.
The Screening Committee
The volunteer crew that works to fill the GMFF program with the best movies are a group of about 20 people from across Vermont. This is the 2025 selection crew posing outside the Savoy Theater.
GMFF Volunteers like you!
Volunteers make our festival run smoothly. Everything from festival planning, fundraising, administration, and event staffing. We appreciate everyone's contributions! To join our volunteer pool, please email Emma at hello@gmffestival.org
Green Mountain Film Festival - Land Acknowledgment
The Green Mountain Film Festival celebrates cinema and community in N’dakinna [in-DAH-kee-NAH], the traditional and unceded land of the Western Abenaki people. We are grateful to work on this land and recognize the dispossession and oppression of Indigenous communities across North America, and their resiliency. We encourage our audience to learn more about the land you are on by visiting native-land.ca