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Virginia Emerging
Filmmakers Festival
Virginia
Emerging
Filmmakers
Festival
presented by The Film Studio at Shenandoah University
in association with Alamo Drafthouse Cinema
Join us in the historic Shenandoah Valley for the 6th Annual Virginia Emerging Filmmakers Festival.
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On Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18 2026, we will present short films from current high school and college students across the United States.

Films must be 15 minutes in length or less. 

We will accept films in the categories of animation, comedy, drama, horror, documentary or music video. 

Films will be considered by a team of judges from the Shenandoah University faculty and alumni base, the programming team at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, and a group of industry professionals.  

Selected films will screen for a live audience at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Winchester.

Cash prizes will be awarded for Best Film Winner ($100), Finalist ($50), and Semi-Finalist ($25)

JUDGES

Paul DiFranco

Director

The Film Studio at Shenandoah

Paul DiFranco heads The Film Studio at Shenandoah, which is the film program at Shenandoah University.  The Film Studio at Shenandoah provides real-world experience to students.  The program helped produce films with national distribution including Santa Girl (Netflix), Cupid for Christmas (Hulu), and GetAWAY (Amazon).  Paul is also a full-service music supervisor, having worked extensively with Universal Studios, Sony Pictures, Fox Family Channel, Roger Corman’s Concorde Pictures, and many others.

Ariel Baska

Filmmaker / Podcaster / Author

Director, Ride the Omnibus

Ariel Baska is an multiply disabled filmmaker, journalist, and academic author. Her award-winning films have played at film festivals from Berlin to Mumbai and on Alaska Airlines. She has presented at SXSW (South by Southwest) on various topics in disability and accessibility in the film and television industry, and is the creator of Access:Horror, a film festival and industry summit celebrating the history, future and impact of disability and horror. Her creative multiverse is most visible on Ride the Omnibus, her podcast and non-profit parked at the intersection of pop culture and social justice.

Steve Nerangis

Co-Owner

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Winchester VA

Varla Dogwood Films

Steve is an owner with Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Winchester, VA, where he has focused primarily on marketing and programming.  His career has revolved around entertainment and advertising with professional positions in radio, band management, and record distribution.  Steve is also a co-founder of Varla Dogwood Films and has been involved with several award-winning films as a director, editor and producer.

Joseph Neff

Film Manager

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Winchester VA

In his role at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Winchester, VA, Joseph oversees film booking, scheduling, and promotion.  He has also worked for over a decade in projection.  Additionally, Joseph is a music critic and frequent contributor to The Vinyl District website.   

Faye Cloven

PR & Communications, Winchester-Frederick County Tourism Bureau
Director, Psycho Cinema

By day, Faye works in tourism with the Winchester-Frederick County Tourism Bureau, where she’s out in the community championing the region through marketing, public relations, and communications. By night, she leads Psycho Cinema — a horror-centric film group that gathers weekly at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Winchester to celebrate the bizarre, the brazen, the bold… and occasionally, the delightfully bad side of genre cinema. Faye lives in a tiny black house and collects taxidermy.

Mike Powell

Writer / Director / Editor, Mirandum Pictures

Mike is a writer/director and editor based in the greater Washington, DC area. He earned a master’s degree in literature from Catholic University and worked for several years in education, both as a teacher and textbook author, but chiefly employs his writing skills as Mirandum Pictures’ copywriter, developing concepts for branding videos. Mike also frequently serves as director on Mirandum’s video shoots, drawing on his fifteen years experience as a theatrical director.

Brady Cloven

Executive Director, Friends of Old Town (Winchester Main Street)
Co-host, Epic Film Guys podcast

Brady Cloven is the Executive Director of Friends of Old Town, Winchester’s Main Street organization dedicated to keeping downtown vibrant, creative, and community-driven. A longtime nonprofit professional, Brady has led programs in economic development, veteran support, and public art — always focused on connecting people and place.  Outside of work, he’s better known as B-Ratty, co-host of Epic Film Guys — the movie podcast your mother warned you about. Based in the D.C. area, the show mixes horror, humor, and craft beer as Brady and crew dive into new releases, trash classics, and everything in between. He lives in Winchester with his wife Faye and their cats, who remain unimpressed by his horror takes.

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