JASNA Southwest launched an annual Young Filmmakers Contest in 2017, as part of hosting JASNA’s Annual General Meeting, which attracts hundreds of attendees from across the country.

Originally open to high school, college undergraduate and graduate students from throughout North America, eligibility to all amateur filmmakers under the age of 30 beginning in 2020. We award cash prizes and a year’s membership in JASNA to all winning entries.

The 2022 finalists (and all past winners) can be viewed on JASNA Southwest’s YouTube channel. Watch the 2021 finalists’ playlist now.

The Young Filmmakers Contest is now run by the national JASNA organization. For information, visit jasna.org. 

Have Imagination and a Video Camera?

Are you an aspiring Ava DuVernay or Steven Spielberg? Do you know a talented high school, undergrad or graduate student who is? Or any aspiring filmmaker or Austen fan under the age of 30? Enter, or help spread the word about, our sixth annual Young Filmmakers Contest.

Sponsored by JASNA Southwest, the contest is open to all North American amateur filmmakers under the age of 30. The contest is designed to encourage study, interpretation of and appreciation for Jane Austen among new generations.

Films must be five minutes or less and should be adapted from, or inspired by, Jane Austen’s writing or life. Past entries have included animated films, documentaries, modernizations and tributes to Austen’s genius. They’ve ranged from heart-tugging stories to hilarious adventures, and everything in between. All you need is your imagination and a smart phone.

Cash prizes are awarded: $250 for first place, $100 for second place and $50 for third place. Winners also receive a year’s membership in the Jane Austen Society of North America. Winning films will also be screened for a global audience on our YouTube channel and at the JASNA Annual General Meeting.

2023 Contest will begin next year. Stay tuned for details.

2022 Highlights

Southwest’s Young Filmmakers Contest Awards Event Is a Highlight of the 2022 AGM
The Victoria Conference Centre’s world-class theatre, where the Young Filmmakers Contest
(YFC) awards event took place on September 30, was a fitting venue with its large stage and
tiered seating. That evening, before a packed house, the contest truly came into its own and was
duly recognized as an important way to foster interest in Jane Austen to new audiences. Founded
by the Southwest Region in 2017, the Young Filmmakers Contest was voted to become part of
JASNA starting in 2023.
“The JASNA board was impressed with how the Southwest Region developed and grew the
contest,” says Erika Kotite, YFC chair. “They commended us on our ability to attract top-notch
judges and young talent over the past six years.” Erika will continue with the program as co-
chair and has brought in Janeen Sara as chair. Janeen, a member of the Southwest Florida
Region, is a video production professional and board member of the Women in Film and TV of
Florida.
More than 100 AGM attendees settled in to watch the results of this year’s contest, which had
four finalists from around the country. Founding YFC Chair Susie Wampler introduced the
awards gala with the strains of “Hooray for Hollywood” ringing in the background. She also
introduced Alex Siskin, a Southwest member who acted as emcee for the evening. Erika worked
behind the scenes, making sure all went well with the screenings. Nancy Gallagher, who
originated the idea for the contest when she served as coordinator for the 2017 AGM in
Huntington Beach, was also in attendance as was Southwest member Diana Birchall, one of this
year’s judges. Journalist and author Deborah Yaffe, another judge, also attended.
Southwest members and YFC committee members Catherine Hayes and Vicki Broach, along
with Southwest member and volunteer Wendy Weiss, assisted before and during the event by
assembling popcorn bags filled with a People’s Choice voter ballot, golf pencil, movie log
notepad and postcard promoting the 2023 event. Other team members working hard throughout
the year include Alicia Lomas-Gross and Teresa Chien (Southwest); Amy Stallings
(Southeastern Virginia); and Elizabeth Pickens (Greater Phoenix).

And the Winners Are …
1st place: Pegah Serajeh, 24, of Brooklyn, N.Y. Her film, titled Proofs of Tenderness, portrays a
modern young woman returning to the dating scene in New York City, who attempts to instill the
values of Jane Austen in her new love interest.
2nd place: Daniela Bond, 24, of Los Angeles. Bond’s artful film, A Letter to Fanny, brought to
life one of Austen’s actual letters to her niece Fanny.
3rd place: Marika Hall, 20, of Oxford, Miss Hall’s downtown Oxford setting showed what a
modern-day encounter between Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth might look like after their
eight-year separation.

All of the winning films, from this year and previous years can be viewed on JASNA
Southwest’s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt_EG_4CLO4koXz9gitB4nA/playlists
For more details on the contest and the AGM, be sure to read the next issue of JASNA News or
on jasna.org.

Aspiring filmmaker Jordan Sartor-Francis

Zoë Hodge’s film “Persuasion”

Lydia Smith won second place in the over-20 category for her film, “A Letter to Jane” (with cinematography by David Pearson).

College freshman Sajween Khan won third place in the under-20 category for her entry, “Letters to Cassandra.”

• Ashley Clements of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, who is starring in and producing A Tale Told by an Idiot, a modern adaptation of Macbeth 

• Laurie Viera Rigler, author of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and its sequel, and creator of the Babelgum web series Sex and the Austen Girl

• Thomas Rigler, Emmy-winning director, executive producer and showrunner 

• Robin Swicord, director and screenwriter of The Jane Austen Book Club

• Kenneth Turan, longtime (recently retired) film critic for the Los Angeles Times

• Aydrea Walden, writer/producer/actor and creator of the Webby-nominated Black Girl in a Big Dress 

2017

Second-place winner Katiana Bennett (with her father, Andrew Bennett) and first-place winner Rivkah Penarelli and her husband, Jason Penarelli, with inaugural contest chair Susie Wampler at the 2017 AGM in Huntington Beach

First-place winner Rivkah Penarelli had the opportunity to chat with filmmaker Whit Stillman at the 2017 AGM.