McKinley Zobrist wins first place at ICC’s 2025 Student Short Film Festival

Yesterday, the winners of the 2025 Student Short Film Festival were announced to an audience of over 20 people.

“In MM150, we [Zobrist and her friend] were assigned a stop motion film. I don’t exactly know where the idea of a dark humor orange film came from, but within five seconds, the entire story was in my brain. I knew it was gonna be weird, but I ran with it,” Zobrist said about her winning short film, “Peeled Away.” “My favorite part of the creative process was definitely when I first put my images into Premiere Pro and saw it come to life.”

Zobrist’s “Peeled Away” focused on an orange who gets separated from his partner and has to go and find her.

“The process of stop-motion is obviously very long and tedious, and my friend and I definitely got some weird looks taking pictures of oranges for 30+ minutes in public, but that just added to the fun,” Zobrist said about filming the grocery store scene. “I love when I get to see my ideas, as weird as they may be, come to life, and this project was no exception. Hearing people’s reactions is always funny to me, too.”

“Everyone in this film festival is so talented, and I have a lot of growing to do,” Zobrist added about the other four winners. “Seeing the Multimedia Three and Four students’ works only inspired me to keep growing in my creativity. I’m very grateful for the opportunities here at ICC and can’t wait to create more over the next year.”

Second place was given to two filmmakers. Abigail Wilmot, for “Nymph,” a film about a young person who travels into the woods and faces the powers of nature. The other second place winner was Justin Tomlianovich, for “Faceless,” a film about a masked person facing their fears.

The third place winner was Luke N. Ball, for “Presenting Frankie Bosco,” a comedic silent film reminiscent of a 1920s Charlie Chaplin film.

The honorable mention award went to Michael Anthony Agatucci, for “Paperplanes,” a film about a paper airplane’s journey.

After the winners’ films were shown to the audience at the event, audience members voted on which film was their favorite. “Faceless,” by Tomlianovich, won “Audience Favorite.”

The other winners were judged by Matthew Briggs, an ICC alum and former commercial producer, Jen Richrath, a tenured professor in ICC’s Humanities Department, and Allison Walsh, an independent documentary filmmaker.

The winning films can be viewed here.