World’s Largest Film Festival for Emerging Filmmakers Announces 2023 Award Winners 

Monday, May 1st (Seattle, WA)

NFFTY, the world’s largest and most influential film festival for emerging directors! Each year, NFFTY showcases work by filmmakers 24 and younger from around the globe. For their 16th anniversary year, the organization held a hybrid edition April 27 - May 7, with thousands attending the festival. This year’s festival featured over 200 official selections from 32 US states and 28 countries. The award winners – including jury, audience and special achievement awards – have been announced.

The Grand Prize winner of the 48 Hour Film Off will receive a $700 cash prize for their school from NFFTY, and the runner-up will receive a $300 cash prize. NEW TALENT AWARDS (Ages 14 and Under, 15 - 18, and 19 - 24) will receive a $500 credit to Audiosocket. JURY AWARD Winners will receive a $500 cash prize, as well as a one-year subscription to ShotDeck. Winners of STORY STARTS HERE will receive a $500 cash prize for Best Pilot and Best Screenplay, and all finalists will receive a copy of Final Draft 12. AUDIENCE AWARD winners will receive a Filmic Pro Software License. Select SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT award winners will receive $500 cash, a Musicbed Personal subscription, $250 in Filmsupply credits, Davinci Resolve Studio 16, or a combination therefore. The BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY award winner will also receive one REDucation course and a RED loaner for up to 10 days. Partial and full-ride tuition scholarships will be awarded to selected students to programs at Hussian College in Studio and Vancouver Film School.

NFFTY also expanded commitment to emerging filmmakers’ exposure to industry professionals, expanding jury competition across thirteen categories with 33 jurors, whose bios can be found at: https://www.nffty.org/jury-2023

JURY AWARDS: 

  • BEST NARRATIVE: To The Lights - Emily Kim

  • BEST NARRATIVE (STUDENT): Chicken - Josh Leong

  • BEST DOCUMENTARY: And Still, We Thrive - Joy Xing

  • BEST DOCUMENTARY (STUDENT): Beyond The Void - Rafaël Beauchamp

  • BEST ANIMATION: Unlucky Charms - Kris Theorin

  • BEST ANIMATION (STUDENT): Mileage - Jennifer Wu, Kym Santiana, Ruyee Lu,
    Christopher Hsueh, Nicole Taylor-Topacio, Joy Zhou, Ruby Saysanasy, Miranda Li, Saul Benavides

  • BEST EXPERIMENTAL: The River - Janay Kelley

  • BEST EXPERIMENTAL (STUDENT): I Remember It From Up Close - Jaclyn Goldstein

  • BEST MUSIC VIDEO: Rodney Chrome - To The Money - Zac Dov Wiesel

  • BEST MUSIC VIDEO (STUDENT): Death of A Hero - RJ Solomon

  • BEST EPISODIC: Carly Dolls - Maudie Schmidt & Jaxson Power-Thornton

NEW TALENT:

  • AGES 14 & UNDER: Emilia Diaz Delgado - Acorn

  • AGE 15 - 18: Julian Barahona - A Trip to the Moon

  • AGE 19 - 24: Daisy Friedman - As You Are

48 HOUR FILM OFF:

  • GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Limited Time Only - Anacortes High School

  • RUNNER-UP: Inherently Awful - Mount Si High School

SPECIAL AWARDS:

  • KATHY REICHGERDT INSPIRATION AWARD: Brittany Young

  • BEST HIGH SCHOOL FILM AWARDS, presented by Hussian College

    • NARRATIVE WINNER: Undaunted - Ella Arlene

    • DOCUMENTARY WINNER: Bee The Solution - Charlotte Quintanar

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS:

  • BEST VFX: Wish U Were Here

  • BEST EDITING: I Probably Shouldn’t Be Telling You This

  • BEST DIRECTING: Half-Light

  • BEST ACTING: Puck

  • BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: Sammy, Without Strings

  • BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY presented by RED Digital Cinema: Birdsong

STORY STARTS HERE: SCREENPLAY COMPETITION:

  • BEST PILOT SCRIPT: Gyopo - Stevie Yun

  • BEST SHORT SCREENPLAY: Open Casket - Claire Gostin

AUDIENCE AWARDS:

  • OPENING NIGHT, presented by MoPop: Noodles Forever - McKinley Carlin

  • REEL IMPACT, presented by Team Soapbox: El Soñador - Duncan Heger

  • EPISODIC SHOWCASE: Humanized - Colin Sevely-Ortiz

  • GROWTH SPURTS: The External-Internal Monologue Of An Interdependent Insomniac - Julian Felix Aaronson

  • MUSICAL MEDLEY: Broke Mine Too - Eliot Lee

  • COPING FOR THE BEST: Still Here - Mariah Barrera

  • DIRE STRAITS: Idle Speed - Yoni Azulay

  • HAPPY HOUR SHORTS: Please Hold - Ryan Robinson, Zach Shenouda & Teddy Nissen

  • EXPERIMENTAL VISIONS: The River - Janay Kelley

  • FRIDAY NIGHT SHORTS, presented by AFI Conservatory: Kook Street - Jeremy Kemp

  • BRING THE KIDS, presented by Vancouver Film School: Homeseek - Thi Chu

  • PALPABLE PERFORMANCES, presented by Chapman University: Jungle Rhythms - Adrian Kader

  • BREAKING THE MOLD: Nothing, Except Everything. - Wesley Wang

  • EXPRESS YOURSELF, presented by FILMSUPPLY & MUSICBED: Adam’s Song - Nathan Xia

  • IMMENSE IMMERSIONS, presented by MoPop: Float - Jaden Heller

  • FAMILY TIES: Dún Laoghaire - William Lancaster

  • OUT OF SYNC: A Reason To - Sari Arambulo

  • CENTERPIECE: I Probably Shouldn’t Be Telling You This - Emma Weinswig

  • THRILLS AND CHILLS, presented by Hussian College in Studio: Things Could Be Better - Carter Kratkiewicz

  • EVERGREEN SCREEN: Grief Is Quiet - Hailey McGill

  • LIVELY LOCALES, presented by Filmic Pro: Mango City - Dana Depirri & Emma Cuba

  • FRESH EYES: Sunflower Field - Polina Buchak

  • UNEASY STREET: Cabbage - Destinee McCaster

  • DAILY GRIND: Animal Behavior - Adrian Delcan

  • CLOSING NIGHT: Obtusion - Nathan Cowles

ABOUT NFFTY

NFFTY is the largest and most influential film festival in the world for young filmmakers. NFFTY occurs in Seattle and includes over 40 separate screenings, panels, contests, parties and networking opportunities for emerging filmmakers. Filmmakers from around the world submit short films in narrative, documentary, animation, music video, and experimental categories. NFFTY shows professional development offerings for filmmakers, partnering with such brands as Seed&Spark and top creators and industry talents like Benoit Berthe Siward, Ben Proudfoot, Mari Walker, and Martin Strange-Hansen. Since its launch in 2007, NFFTY has screened films from over 4,000 filmmakers, ranging in age from 6 – 24 years.  For updates and news on NFFTY, visit www.NFFTY.org.

NFFTY is pleased to acknowledge our Platinum and Gold Sponsors: Vancouver Film School, Hussian College in Studio, Filmsupply, Musicbed, and MoPOP.

A special thanks to Blackmagic Design, Audiosocket, Hussian College in Studio, Vancouver Film School, Filmic Pro, Final Draft, Filmsupply, Musicbed, and RED Digital Cinema for their prize donations to our winners.

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For more information:

Email: press@nffty.org

Phone: 206.905.8400