Winners of the film festival (left to right): Jess Williams, Grace McCulloch and Nicholas Volk
The Student Okanagan Film Festival, hosted and organized by the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies (FCCS), showcases emerging student filmmakers from high schools and post-secondary institutions around the Okanagan Valley.
A public screening was held on Monday, April 28th at UBC Okanagan to a full audience to celebrate the talent in the valley.
“With over 80 submissions this year, the jury had a tough time narrowing it down to the twenty-three films that were chosen for the screening,” says Denise Kenney, one of the festival judges. ”We were all impressed by the quality of the films by these young local filmmakers, and were excited to be able to host this screening to show this selection.”
The 2025 festival Jury members were FCCS faculty members Denise Kenney, Dan Keyes, Michael V Smith, Myron Campbell, and Jacen Dennis, and the student reps were Lauren Naidoo and Anneka Rode.
Awards were given to the top films in three categories:
- 2025 SOFF Live Action Short Film Award: Daily Encounters by Nicholas Volk
- 2025 SOFF Short Animated Film Award: July by Jess Williams
- 2025 SOFF High School Short Film Award: Sunflowers by Grace McCulloch
Films selected for the festival were:
- Due Last Week by Gavin Visscher
- Spidderball vs Masterhand by Brandon Mar
- Lost by Gudmund Rothing
- The Underbelly by Kailee Fawcett
- Chicken Skin by Erika Rios Prado
- Skin Shed by Hailey Johnson
- Meep Transformations by Ivy Ye
- Invisible String by Quinn Mortensen
- Cranial by Lauren Naidoo
- The Pea and the Princess by Sophie Murphy
- Heartwired by Liliana Chen
- Tar Wolf by Joshua Huddlestone
- Full Throttle by Giuliano Cardarelli
- Sunflowers by Grace McCulloch
- First Contact by Charlie Carr
- Three Greedy Pigs by Noémie Schirrer
- July by Jess Williams
- UNLIKE YOU by Connor Robertson
- Abattoir by Alyssa Norlin
- Unsunny by Sara Vallejo and Ana Vallejo
- freezer burn by Mae Glerum
- Thought Bobbles by Julian Lamprecht
- Daily Encounters by Nicholas Volk
Media Studies student Lauren Naidoo was also selected to create the branding and graphics and poster design for this year’s festival.
For this year’s festival, students in Myron Campbell’s Advanced Practices in Media Arts class were tasked with designing the festival’s identity, including a poster, title graphics, and social media assets. After the projects were completed, a jury consisting of Myron Campbell, Denise Kenney, Dan Keyes and Shauna Oddleifson selected the top 7 designs, with Lauren’s work earning the top prize. Moving forward, the works of the remaining 6 students will be incorporated in future festival materials.
Graphic design by BMS student Lauren Naidoo
View the full 2025 Student Okanagan Film Festival reel