2025 ROCHESTER TEEN FILM FESTIVAL

Film screening, awards ceremony, and reception

Thursday, August 7, 2025 | 5:30pm

Little Theatre 1 (240 East Ave.)
Doors open at 5:00pm
FREE and open to the public

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 and beyond, honoring the work of urban, suburban, and rural teen filmmakers and providing young people an authentic opportunity to participate in a real film festival.

OTHER SCREENING NOTES

This event will feature general admission seating, and concessions will be open for sale. A reception will follow the screening and awards, held in The Little’s lobby.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

about The Rochester Teen Film Festival, visit WXXI.org

THANKS TO OUR SUPPORTERS

The Rochester Teen Film Festival is made possible thanks to generous support from:

2025 Film Selections

PROCRASTINATION – Georgina Merry

BAD DAYS – Leo Hogan-Roy

BYE-BYE, MY WORLD! – Alice Huang

THE MICROWAVE – Mason Morrison

RUBY HEIST – Maddix Barnes

MONOLITH – Finn Berger

RAPPER’S CHOICE – Aasera Amiger & Eliannah Pardner

25.3 – Olivia Solomon

GREGGY’S BIG SURPRISE! – Teagan Klamm

SELF PORTRAIT – Jack Saxon

THE ECHOS OF ELARA – Jagger Cardinale, Jessica Tamari & Sophia Voicu

THE LIFE OF A MUFFIN – Georgian Merry

ILLUMINATION – Charlotte Anthony

Awards and Judging

All submissions are judged by a jury and finalists have been selected to have their films shown at the Little Theatre. The young filmmakers selected as part of this year’s festival will also have a chance to earn one of the following four awards, each of which comes with a cash prize:

The Philip Seymour Hoffman 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.

Alex Ketchek Award for Best Animated Film

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

The Jack Garner Award for Best Director

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.

The Marilyn O’Connor 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.