Rochester Teen Film Festival

This Award honors the life and legacy of the late Academy Award-winning actor and Fairport, New York native.  The annual award is given to the teen who’s film is chosen by the judges as “Best of Fest.”  The award was established in association with the Hoffman family with funds raised during The Little Theatre’s Philip Seymour Hoffman Tribute Film Series.

This Award is presented in memory of Alex Ketchek, a 2010 Rochester Teen Film Festival finalist who tragically passed away in 2013.

This Award is a new annual award in the memory of long time RTFF jury member and much beloved and spirited national film critic. It is given through the support of Bonnie Garner and the Garner family.

Dr. Brian Bailey & Heather Layton provide funding for the Jack Garner Award for Best Director and the Marilyn O’Connor Award

This Award is presented to a film that addresses a social issue through the lens of compassion, equity and social justice.  Marilyn O’Connor has never crossed a picket line.  She’s been fighting for equality and justice as a youth, a parent, a public defender and Family Court Judge.  She was recognized for mentoring young women in the practice of law as the recipient of the NYS Women’s Bar Association’s Betty Weinberg Ellerin’s Mentoring Award and was one of the founders of the Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys, an organization that supports and encourages women in the legal community.

Dr. Brian Bailey & Heather Layton provide funding for the Jack Garner Award for Best Director and the Marilyn O’Connor Award

WXXI Public Media and The Little Theatre are proud to sponsor the Rochester Teen Film Festival, a collaborative, juried media competition for youth (13-18 years old) in the Rochester region, honoring the work of urban, suburban, and rural teen filmmakers and providing young people an authentic opportunity to participate in a real film festival.

WATCH 2023 FEATURED FINALISTS & AWARDS

TRUMPET PRACTICE, Eli Jeffrey from Penfield High School, Penfield, NY
Received the Phillip Seymour Hoffman Best of Festival Award

HOMELESSNESS IN ROCHESTER, Michelle Meletiche from East Upper School (RCSD), Rochester, NY
Received the Marilyn O’Connor Awared for Social Justice

65 MILLION YEARS LATER, Jack Saxon & Harrison Saxon from Animatus Studio, Rochester, NY
Received the Alex Ketchek Award for Best Animated Film

THE HUNT, Sam Owens from Webster Schroeder High School, Webster, NY
Received the Jack Garner Award for Best Director

Cúinas, Mischa McCarthy from SONAR, Kerry, Ireland
Received the Best Acting Award

NURSING SHORTAGE IN AMERICA, Alejandra Sanchez Colon & Sakariya (Zack) Nur from Edison Career & Technology High School (RCSD), Rochester, NY
Received The Best Public Awareness Film Award

I’M NOT WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE, Clyde Sheridan from High School of Art & Design, Astoria, NY
Received the Best Cinematography Award

FLY OR DIE, Kyshawn White from Greece Arcadia High School, Greece, NY
Received the Best Editing & Visual Effects Award

WXXI Public Media and The Little Theatre are proud to sponsor the Rochester Teen Film Festival, a collaborative, juried media competition for youth (13-18 years old) in the Rochester region, honoring the work of urban, suburban, and rural teen filmmakers and providing young people an authentic opportunity to participate in a real film festival.

The Lineup and Awards:

Award: Best Screenplay
Film: SHOTGUN
Filmmaker: Evan Breckman

Award: Best Public Service Message
Film: DO NOT DISTURB
Filmmaker: Emma Barstow

Award: Most Innovative Film
Film: ANOTHER
Filmmaker: Beatrix Wun

Award: Best Narration
Film: TEN
Filmmakers: Arianna Knolla + Rowan Wilkens

Award: Best Cinematography
Film: THE KEY
Filmmaker: Samuel Owens

Award: Best Art Design
Film: RESIDENTIAL EVIL
Filmmaker: Harrison + Jack Saxon

Award: The Alex Ketchek Award for Best Animated Film
Film: OLD WORLD
Filmmaker: Andrei Campbell

Award: The Marilyn O’Connor Award for Social Justice
Film: AMAZING PEOPLE
Filmmaker: Patrick O’Connor Mason

Award: The Jack Garner Award for Best Director
Film: THE COST
Filmmaker: Luka Galle

Award: Philip Seymour Hoffman Best of Festival Award
Film: THE UNATTAINABLE DREAM: Redlining in Rochester, NY
Filmmakers: The Edison Career & Technology High School Digital Media Students

Non YouTube Film Links:

Project L.A.W.N.

A Day in the Life

Millions of Blob Monsters

Black Lives Matter

Matriarchy

Check out the playlist of films recognized in the 2020 Rochester Teen Film Festival. These films are the best of from 2011-2019. The Festival was offered as a virtual event due to COVID

Check out the playlist of films recognized in the 2020 Rochester Teen Film Festival. These films are the best of from 2011-2019. The Festival was offered as a virtual event due to COVID

Other Finalist Film Links:

April in Paris

Large Favors for a Small Friend

My New Home

The Joker

WXXI Public Media and The Little Theatre are proud to sponsor the Rochester Teen Film Festival, a collaborative, juried media competition for youth (13-18 years old) in the Rochester region, honoring the work of urban, suburban, and rural teen filmmakers and providing young people an authentic opportunity to participate in a real film festival.

History of Rochester Teen Film Festival

The Rochester Teen Film Festival began in 2005 at East High School in Rochester, NY as the Rochester Urban Youth Film Festival. Since that time, co-founders Brian Bailey and Linda Moroney have partnered with a number of organizations to evolve into its current form as a partnership between The Little Theatre and WXXI Public Broadcasting Council.

Awards

Young filmmakers have a chance to earn the Philip Seymour Hoffman Award, which honors the life and legacy of the late Academy Award-winning actor and Fairport, N.Y. native. The annual award is given to the teen who’s film is chosen by the judges as “Best of Fest” and was established in association with the Hoffman family with funds raised during The Little’s Philip Seymour Hoffman Tribute Film Series.

Along with The Philip Seymour Hoffman Award, there are two other awards given to deserving young filmmakers. The Women’s & Gender Studies Award is presented to the winner for an outstanding film addressing gender issues. The Alex Ketchek Award for Best Animated Film is in memory of Alex Ketchek, a 2010 Rochester Teen Film Festival finalist who tragically passed away in 2013.

Bios

Brian Bailey is an educator, writer, artist, entrepreneur, business development executive, and community organizer. Brian earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University (1992), holds a master’s degree from Nazareth College in Educational Technology (2000) and received a Ph.D. in Teaching and Curriculum at the University of Rochester’s Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development He is currently an Associate Professor of Education at Nazareth College in Rochester, NY (USA) where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Adolescent Education through community engagement. He has published articles in blogs, journals and books including: the Huffington Post, the Journal of Digital Culture & Education, and Lights! Camera! Action and the Brain: The Use of Film in Education. He has presented his research Internationally in India (Nagaland University), Pakistan (University of Karachi, Jinnah University for Women, Indus Valley College), Oman (Sultan Qaboos University), Hungary (Eötvös Loránd University), Sri Lanka (Red Dot Art Gallery,  and United Arab Emirates (UAE University in Al Ain). In addition to his academic work, Bailey creates contemporary public art and social intervention projects in local and international contexts. Along with his partner and spouse, Heather Layton, a senior lecturer of Studio Art at the University of Rochester, he started Common Sense Art Collective which uses Socially Engaged Art (SEA) as a form of community engagement and international cultural diplomacy. For this work, Bailey and Layton were named Citizen Diplomats in 2012 by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Bailey’s entrepreneurial work includes business development and corporate social responsibility for two Rochester-based companies (Diamond Packaging; RevSpark) and is the co-founder of a socially conscious Indie Folk music series (Honest Folk) as well as the co-founder of two youth-based events (Rochester Teen Film Festival; ROC Teen Summit).

Linda Moroney – was a producer on the independent feature-length documentary, RAM DASS FIERCE GRACE, named by Newsweek magazine as one of the five best non-fiction films of 2002, and broadcast nationally on PBS (Independent Lens 2004). In 2016, she completed two films. TURN THE PAGE, which she produced and directed, explores the fractured relationship between incarcerated parents and children left behind, through the lens of a jail-based literacy program called, Storybook, at Ontario County Jail (co-production with Crystal Pix). She was also the co-producer of THE LAST DALAI LAMA?, (director Mickey Lemle), which garnered audience awards at the Maui Film Festival and the Mill Valley Film Festival.  Since 2012, Ms. Moroney has been the programmer and host for One Take: Stories Through the Lens, the monthly documentary series at the Little Theatre, which as of 2017 will include a four day film festival. For five years, she served as Director of Greentopia | FILM, a non-fiction film festival, centering on all issues of sustainability. Ms. Moroney is the founder of the Rochester Documentary Filmmakers Group, co-founder of the Rochester Teen Film Festival & the Rochester Teen Film Camp, and teaches documentary film at St. John Fisher College and Rochester Institute of Technology. She was the Managing Director/Programmer for the 360 | 365 Film Festival (2010 and 2011 editions). In 2007, she was the curator for Animated Jazz Shorts from The Hubley Studio, which was a co-presentation by the Rochester International Jazz Festival, Rochester/High Falls Film Festival, and George Eastman House. She has produced several short films including Emily Hubley’s award-winning SET SET SPIKE (2001), which was an official selection in the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. She cut her filmmaking teeth working with Academy Award winner, Faith Hubley, on her last six animated films.