Student Filmmaker Competition

A very special thank you to all the student filmmakers who submitted artistic work to the 2018 Student Filmmaker Competition. This year, the competition was narrowed down to 14 finalists from Chicago area high schools, colleges and graduate programs. These student films presented a wide range of topics and were brave, beautiful, humorous and compassionate.

The winners of the 2018 Student Filmmaker Competition are:

High School

1st Place: The Choice
Director: Julian Nisenboim, Deerfield High School

College/Graduate School

1st Place: Bark Mitzvah
Director: Kendall Goldberg; Writer: Carly Glenn, The Harold Ramis Film School at The Second City

Congratulations to all the finalists!

• Closed Mouths Don’t Get Fed, Simon Shifrin, Jones College Prep
• Cubs, Will Moffett, College of DuPage
• How to Ride an Elevator on Shabbat, Arielle Granof, Film/TV Writing Program at Second City
• Malysh and Ring of Fire, Sam Ashurov, Columbia College Chicago
• Misunderstood, Malik Beck, Columbia College Chicago
• Options, Matthew Gold, The Harold Ramis Film School at The Second City
• Shanghais, Yonatan Yin, College of Lake County
• Steen Metz: A Child Holocaust Survivor, Alison Krolopp and Aaron Gallegos, Glenbrook South High School
• Tato, Sophia Pietrkowski, California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)
• The Explaining Project, Elizabeth Goldblatt, Jones College Prep
• Wake Up Aidan, Lucas Miroslaw, Columbia College Chicago

We are grateful to our guest judges for lending time and talent to help foster the next generation of filmmakers and storytellers.

Eli Adler is a professional cinematographer/director. He’s won numerous awards, including the CINE Golden Eagle and two National Emmys. As a child of a Holocaust survivor, he has filmed several Holocaust-related films, including Hope Out of the Ashes (1985), Loosening The Grip (1999), filmed in Berlin and Auschwitz and One Day In Auschwitz (2015), produced by The Shoah Foundation to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. His acclaimed film, Surviving Skokie was part of the 2016 JCC Chicago Jewish Film Festival.

Katherine O’Brien is a writer, filmmaker, and creative consultant. She is on the faculty at The Harold Ramis Film School at The Second City, and a member of the adjunct faculty at Columbia College Chicago. She creates comedic, dramatic, and documentary content for film, television, and the digital space. Additionally, she provides expert story analysis, coverage, and script consultation for some of Hollywood’s most respected companies.

Sponsors