Ohio Shorts Screening and Reception

Our annual Ohio Shorts program is always a celebration, and this year will be even more so because it’s the program’s 20th anniversary! Join us as we show the best in Ohio-produced short films—whether documentary, animation, dramatic narrative, or something in-between. Both the adult and youth division entries will be featured at the same screening. Audience members will be able to vote for their favorite film, and cash prizes will be awarded to filmmakers selected by the audience and jury. Meet the filmmakers and fellow film fans in the Wexner Center Café at a reception after the screening.

The Ohio Shorts annual festival is intended to showcase the talent and diversity of voices of artists and filmmakers based in Ohio and to provide them with the opportunity to show their work in a theatrical setting. Works submitted are reviewed by a diverse jury that has included artists, curators, critics, academics, and Wexner Center staff.

Due to the incredible strength of this year’s selections, we felt compelled to adjust our awards. The evening’s awards now include a $400 Jury Award in each division, as well as second and third place cash prizes in the Youth Division. All the films featured in the program will also be eligible for a $200 Audience Award. 

All awards will be announced at the reception following the screening.

JUDGES
Jennifer Lange, curator of the Wexner Center's Film/Video Studio Program
Jean Pitman, educator for youth programs at the Wexner Center
Jackie Mantey, creative writer and freelance arts journalist for the Dispatch Printing Company

ADULT DIVISION SELECTIONS
Mother (Iryna Zhygaliuk, Athens)
When Skies Are Gray (Cory Pratt, Athens)
ALT AUTO (Liz Cambron, Ashley Walton, and Megan Hague, Cincinnati)
Tiny Out Loud (Andrew Ina and Dan Gerdeman, Columbus)
Nautia (CCAD Animation Lab Team Class, Columbus)
Man Frees Robot Trapped in Room (Will Delphia, Columbus)
Mirror Lake and Osama Bin Laden (Seth Radley, Columbus)
Containing Addiction (Jenny Deller, Columbus)
Monochrome Suite, Post Fetish Painting (Melissa Vogley Woods, Columbus)
The Ocean Doesn’t Care (Chase Whiteside and Erick Stoll, Cincinnati)

YOUTH DIVISION SELECTIONS
Giving Gives Back (Justen Turner, 12, Lakeview Junior High School)
Going the Distance (Emma Kreber, 18, Tolles Career & Technical Center / Dublin Coffman High School, and Megan Sonderman)
Bittersweet Defeat (Jack Campise, 17, Upper Arlington High School)
Birdemic and Nick Cage (Kevin Gronski, 16, Hilliard Davidson High School) 
Talking to Myself (Joe Henderson, 18, Hilliard Davidson High School)
tea (Tanner Bidish, 18, Hilliard Davidson High School)
Random Robots (Hayden Garrett, 12, Phoenix Middle School) 
17 (Grace Lillash, 14, Dominion Middle School)
James (Laura Lenhart, 18, Rutherford B. Hayes High School)
I’m OK (Connor McGovern, 16, St. Francis DeSales High School)