We are pleased to announce the call for work for the 22nd Annual Nichols School Flick Fest Student Film and Video Festival! The festival accepts entries by middle and high school students from across Western New York. Student work submitted to the festival is judged by a panel of student filmmakers and curated into a single evening screening. Click here for our full Flick Fest promotional poster!
Participation in the Flick Fest gives student filmmakers the opportunity to showcase their work to a Western New York audience, meet fellow filmmakers, and view work by their filmmaking peers. The festival committee works to make the evening entertaining and informative. In addition to the screening, there is an award ceremony for the winning films, with prizes.
This year's Flick Festival is set for Thursday, April 20 at 7 p.m. at the North Park Theatre (1428 Hertel Ave., Buffalo). The event is free and open to the public.
The deadline for all entries is Monday, April 10. All filmmakers should fill out the entry form below. The entries can be uploaded to the Flick Fest OneDrive Folder or sent using a Dropbox or WeTransfer link. They may also be physically mailed in on a USB drive or SD card.
All entries should be short, ten minutes or less. Excerpts from longer work will also be accepted.
The 2023 award categories are Best of Drama, Best of Music Video, Best of Documentary, Best of Animation, Best of Comedy, Best Experimental Film, Best Middle School Entry, and People’s Choice.
Please enter all required information.
Invalid text has been entered. Please correct all errors and click submit
Flick Fest 2023 Registration
ABOUT THE FLICK FEST
An annual film festival started in the year 2000 by Ms. Mancuso’s Filmmaking Video Art class at Nichols School. The Flick Fest film festival is a forum for Western New York high school and middle school students to showcase the best of their motion picture pieces. In addition to winning prizes, students will have an opportunity to meet their peers, screen their own work in front of a diverse audience, and to get a look at film/video work from area students.
THE PROCESS
The festival involves an open call for work. The student committee makes a poster and sends out letters to area schools and media outlets. The students also launch a social media campaign for the festival and make short films to promote the festival and encourage fellow students to make films. When the student entries are collected, the student festival committee views and judges the work. The committee selects the works to screen and curates a program. The students whose works are selected are notified and encouraged to attend the program. The student committee watches the selected festival entries and selects winning work. On the evening of the festival, the student festival committee acts as the emcee for the evening, greeting the attendees and handing out ballots for the “People’s Choice” award. Then everyone sits back and enjoys the wonderful selection of films. Finally, awards are presented to the best entries of each category and the crowd’s favorite film.
Award categories include: Best of Animation, Best of Comedy, Best of Music Video, Best of Experimental, Best of Film, Best of Drama, Best of Documentary, and the People’s Choice
For more information contact:
Andrea Mancuso 716-332-6300 x365 amancuso@nicholsschool.org
The Flick Fest has screened the work of over 460 local students.
Over 38 area schools have participated in the festival.
NYSMATA (NYS Media Teachers Alliance), Squeaky Wheel, The Buffalo News, Buffalo Rising and Artvoice and The Public have promoted the festival and run articles about the students and their films.
The Flick Fest has screened at Nichols School and at the Albright Knox Art Gallery
Past participating schools include:
Akron High School
BAVPA (Buffalo Academy of Visual and Performing Arts)