Student Voices

Noe Valley Girls Film Festival Learn more

The Noe Valley Girls Film Festival (NGFF) has run for 11 years, and accepts short film submissions made by girls and non-binary youths anywhere in the world in two age groups (ages 12-16 and age 11 and under). Films centered around social and/or climate issues will also be considered for the "NVGFF Hope" award, sponsored by TEF. A winner from each age group receives a $50 prize for the most compelling, salient, and enduring film in this area. Visit the Noe Valley GFF page on Film Freeway to learn more.

---

Campus Movie Fest CMF Website

The Elfenworks Student Social and Climate Justice Award at Campus Movie Fest has provided students with the opportunity to make their voices heard on issues they care deeply about for decades (our first Grand Finale attendance was in '07). Prior to a shift to a script submission format, students from across the country submitted thousands of short films to our category for consideration. Winners were selected by CMF in consultation with the Elfenworks Foundation and announced at annual grand finales by celebrity presenters including Gabouray Sidibe (2011), Nate Parker (2012), Larry Wilmore (2013), Jurnee Smollett-Bell (2014), Elijah Kelley (2015), Thomas E. Ackerman (2017), and Jeff Goldblum (2021). When Virgin Airlines was flying, our winners were there for passengers to enjoy. There were over a million views for our category alone. Many of these winning films are timeless, as you will see when you click on our links, below.

When CMF went largely online, we switched to a script submission format, with students providing an original content pitch. Through the Elfenworks Hope for Climate and Social Justice Development Program, storytellers would win mentorship help from film professionals and funds (a $10K stipend) to bring their short films to life, with one final winner receiving an additional $2,000 prize. Our four criteria for judging submissions: 1) Compelling (point the way towards hope in a memorable and stirring way); 2) Salient (deeply important to today's landscape and culture); 3) Enduring (non-partisan, non-political, and evergreen) and 4) Feasible (not reliant on big budgets, famous faces, or complex logistics). They would be grounded in a current issue involving climate justice or how climate change intersects with social justice, presenting it in a way that left the audience feeling hopeful. While not dismissing the urgency, they would shed light on critical issues, point the way to hope, helping lift our spirits, spark hope, inspire positive action, all in a way that would stand the test of time.

2026 Winning Film, The Tree that Fed the Neighborhood

Two students were selected for mentorship, with a budget of $10,000 each, with one winner finally selected.

When a massive live oak in a food desert begins dropping strange, nourishing fruits, a lonely middle‑schooler becomes its caretaker—sparking a neighborhood movement that challenges the city's neglect and reimagines food access as a shared right. A film by Jamaal Amir McCray.

2026 Runner-up, Legend of the Neverending Oak at the Corner of Sixth & Ave B

In their community garden, two young girls share the legend of a boy that discovers the green spaces in the city act as portals to the world of a forest spirit who he falls in love with, causing him to plant gardens across the city in order to be with her. A film by LZ Matthias.

2025 Winning Film, Hallogreen

When a child insists on buying a new Halloween costume, his grandmother is forced to come out of retirement as a seamstress and recycle costumes and decorations for her grandson. Congratulations to Zayan Agha for "Hallogreen," inspiring us with this story of upcycling clothing and the small changes we can all make in our lives!

2024 Winning Film, We Stellar Remnants

We Stellar Remnants follows Deacon, a far future spaceman, as he rediscovers a depleted, dying Earth. Congratulations to Ben Senior for submitting the winning treatment.

2023 Winning Film, Foreverglades

Watch the 2023 winning feature Foreverglades, and experience a kid in between foster homes finding hope in the magical, disappearing everglades outside Miami. Congratulations to Brittany Perry for submitting the winning treatment and working closely with Campus Movie Fest to create this amazing journey.

2022 Winning Film, Treasure

We are excited to bring you the 2022 winning feature. Treasure is a heartfelt effort that arose from the lived experience of screenwriter Synnovia Ashe. It endearingly explores our throwaway culture and its effects, asking what it might feel like to be part of what was thrown away. Taking the object's point of view, a profound truth is captured in a way that is so charming and delightful, it is sure to inspire the viewer to reconsider, reuse, repurpose and reduce, rather than waste, resources. Learn more about it here [PDF].

Treasure - Press Release PDF

2021 Winning Films

From 2010 through 2021, students submitted completed films. Look at their wonderful creations:

2021 Honorable Mentions