Celebrating 20 Years!
Westflix is an annual student-run film festival for California teens presented by Harvard-Westlake School since 2004. Now Celebrating 20 years, 172 films were submitted from high schoolers all over California. After a lengthy and thoughtful judging process, 16 exceptional films were selected.
View the program
EVENT INFO
Our Westflix screening and awards will take place on the evening of Friday March 17th, 2023 at the historic Million Dollar Theater in Downtown Los Angeles. Fancy “red carpet” attire is encouraged.
Friday, March 17 Festival Schedule
- 6:30 p.m.
Doors Open
- 6:30 p.m. – 7:25 p.m.
Pre-Show Red Carpet and Jazz Explorers performance
- 7:30 p.m. – 9:45 p.m.
Screening of Films, with Guest Speaker Mindy Kaling
- 9:45 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Post-Show Awards Ceremony
- 10 p.m. – Midnight
Filmmakers’ Afterparty at Grand Central Market (Invite-only)
Tickets are Free. RSVP required for all attendees. More info on the Box Office page.
Watch Red Carpet Livestream
FILMMAKERS' WORKSHOP
The Filmmakers’ Workshop will be held in person Saturday, March 18 at Harvard-Westlake Upper School in Studio City. This event is an opportunity for student filmmakers to connect with one another and receive personalized feedback on their work from industry professionals. This event is primarily intended for the cast and crew of selected films, and filmmakers’ mentors. Please note that we will only be workshopping Westflix ‘23 officially selected student films.
Saturday, March 18 Workshop Schedule:
- 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Filmmakers’ Workshop with comedian, film director, screenwriter, and actor Jay Chandrasekhar and writer and producer Kate Angelo
- 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. Lunch
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Beautiful Mind by Spencer McDonald and Brayden Nguyen | Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts
Chores by Angus Ebeling | Windward School
Elusive by Xander Rhee | Academy of the Canyons
Gasp for a Final Breath by Eion Nunez | LACHSA
Get Live! by Sundiata Enuke | Ghetto Film School
Grandpa Cherry Blossom by Maddox Chen | Mira Costa High School
Hurt People by Dylan Eskovitz | Windward School
Mama’s Boy by Helena Ausberger | LACHSA
My New Neighbor by Jaiden Mathews | Harvard-Westlake School
My Sisters in the Stars by Ian Kim | Harvard-Westlake School
Ovaryacting by Jordan Held | Orange County School of the Arts
Rational Functions by Esmé Nix | LACHSA
Stache Society by Olive Corine Read | Carondelet High School
The Harvest by Sean Goedecke | Orange County School of the Arts
The Narcissist by Gabriel Perez | Woodside High School
Understand That by Benji Tucker | LACHSA
AWARDS
| Lizzie Award for Originality/Creativity
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Stache Society
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| Lizzie Award for Direction
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Gasp for a Final Breath
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| Lizzie Award for Writing
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Ovaryacting
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| Lizzie Award for Cinematography
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The Harvest
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| Lizzie Award for Performances/Acting
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Ovaryacting
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| Lizzie Award for Production Design
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The Narcissist
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| Lizzie Award for Sound/Music
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Get Live!
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| Sally Menke Award for Editing
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Elusive
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| The Lizzie: Founder's Award
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Mama's Boy
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| Cheri Gaulke Award for Visual Storytelling
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My Sisters In The Stars: The Story of Lee Yong-soo
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| Lizzie Award for Best Overall
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Understand That
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| Humanitarian Award
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Grandpa Cherry Blossom
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| Audience Choice Award
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My Sisters In The Stars: The Story of Lee Yong-soo
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| Ted Walch Award for Teaching and Mentorship
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Kyle Provencio Reingold, Ghetto Film School LA
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Westflix is a celebration of the best short films produced by high school students throughout California!
Westflix is produced by members of the Harvard-Westlake School community and thus holds values of diversity, equity, and inclusion at its core. Each year we work to reach further to include and uplift the voices and stories of a more diverse range of young filmmakers across the state. Westflix is a brave space for creative expression and education that celebrates and recognizes student artists of different identities and backgrounds. In the past, we’ve been proud to showcase films by LGBTQIA+ filmmakers, POC filmmakers, first generation filmmakers, women filmmakers, first time filmmakers, filmmakers with disabilities, and other students of marginalized communities, who were able to share their own stories via our platform. As arbiters of media, we understand how much representation matters and will continue to expand our scope.