Ohio Shorts 2020

While we know we can't gather together in person for this year's event, we're hoping to create an equally engaging but expanded experience by bringing Ohio Shorts online. This year's program—now in its 24th year—features incredible works selected by Wexner Center jurors Rachael Barbash (projectionist) and Maria Joranko (community outreach and teen programs coordinator).

The final program of 15 films were selected from 147 entries from all around the state in both the youth (18 and under) and adult (19 and over) divisions. It'll be 95 minutes that prove without a doubt that you don't have to be located on a coast to have a thriving film community!

The Jury Award ($500) will be announced via Facebook and Instagram on April 18 at 9 pm. The Audience Choice Award ($300) will be determined by online voting through a link provided at the end of the program. In order to make sure everyone has a chance to participate, the voting link will be open through 6 pm on April 25. We’ll announce the Audience Choice winner via Facebook and Instagram at 8 pm on April 25.

Program lineup
with artists' descriptions

John Wick
(Kieran Murphy, 2020, 1:28 mins.)
Athens High School | Youth Division
In a challenging situation, John Wick tries to do the right thing.

Gremulon
(Joseph Branderhorst and Devin Lapp, 2020, 2:03 mins.)
Olentangy Liberty High School | Youth Division
An alien is interviewing for an office job while trying to not let the interviewer find out that he's an alien.

Amber
(Ross Jeffers and Sean Russell, 2020, 4:38 mins.)
Rutherford B. Hayes High School | Youth Division
A man witnesses himself stuck in an amber of time.

THE G.O.A.T.
(Keisha Martin, 2018, 7:59 mins.)
Atwater | Adult Division
Stuck in life, a maid named Terry jams through her work shifts (holding her head high and her music even higher) until an unforeseen force stops the music.

blink of an eye
(Maya Sophia Neyman, 2019, 2:01 mins.)
The Ohio State University | Youth Division 
This film explores the idea of growing up too fast; the simplicity of youth goes by in the blink of an eye.

The loop
(Layla Ayoub, 2020, 57 secs.)
Hilliard Davidson High School | Youth Division
This is an animation depicting the thoughts of a girl on a loop.

The Other Border
(Justin Zimmerman, 2019, 8 mins.)
Portland, OR/Norwalk, OH | Adult Division
Student Gerardo Hernandez—raised in the United States since six months of age—was arrested by ICE, spent two months in prison, and is scheduled to be deported.

MUÑE
(Catalina Jordan Alvarez, 2019, 14:28 mins.)
Yellow Springs | Adult Division
Shrink-wrapped baby-doll toes, skillet-fried roaches, salvage-yard showdowns: MUÑE is an unhinged romp through rural Tennessee, the likes of which you’ve never seen before.

Love and Family
(Jolie Chen, 2019, 1:53 mins.)
Olentangy Liberty High School | Youth Division
Asian dramas have become increasingly popular. I've decided to cash in on the trend.

Hou Yi and the Ten Sons
(Yunze “Jet” Ni, 2019, 1:48 mins.)
Fuzhou, China/Columbus, OH | Adult Division
Hou Yi and the Ten Sons reinterprets a classic Chinese tale in the context of modern-day issues such as global warming and capitalism.

Omobinrin Mi (My Daughters)
(Claudia Owusu and Ife Oluwamuyide, 2020, 13:46 mins.
Columbus | Adult Division
Modupe is the glue that holds her family together, but when times get tough, it takes the help of her daughters for her to come to terms with the truth.

Unhinged
(Hayden Milewsky and Simone Massis, 2019, 3:39 mins.)
Rutherford B. Hayes High School | Youth Division
A man slowly becomes unhinged from himself and his reality.

Welcome to Violence!
(Ryan Wise, 2019, 8:52 mins.)
Pataskala | Adult Division
How does the soul react to abjection based on the physical attributes of its vessel? Occupy the subject position of a black male born at the turn of this century. (I made this when I was angry)

Grandma/Obāchan
(Cora K. Hasegawa, 2019, 7:17 mins.)
Oberlin | Adult Division
My whole life I have always wondered who my grandmothers really were. Through conversations with my parents, I explore my grandmother’s lives and the losses that affected my family and shaped my personal and cultural identity.

In Praise of Angela
(Edit Jakab, 2020, 14:54 mins.)
Athens | Adult Division
A satirical ode to the Midwest that addresses existential issues (like the responsibility of parenthood, the pursuit of dreams, and whether we should take ourselves all that seriously) through humorous, ironic vignettes.