Sleepy Hollow Cinema (SHC), the nonprofit working to bring an art house cinema back to Sleepy Hollow, announced today its First Annual Student Film Festival, Sleepy Hollow FrightFest, screening October 10. The festival invites high school and undergraduate filmmakers from the local community and across the country to submit original short horror films and screen their work in the village whose name is synonymous with American horror.
The festival is part of SHC’s broader mission to establish the organization as a national “Home for Horror,” a destination that celebrates the genre’s history while championing the filmmakers who will shape its future. Winning entries will take home a Golden Horseman trophy, with additional prizes to be announced in the coming months.
“When people hear ‘Sleepy Hollow,’ they already think of horror, it’s in the town’s DNA,” said Marc Solomon, co-founder and board chair of Sleepy Hollow Cinema. “We’re building a cinema that lives up to that name. A national Home for Horror has to start by championing the people who’ll define the genre next, and a student festival is exactly where that begins.”
“Look at Backrooms and Obsession, two of the highest grossing films of the year, made by filmmakers still in their twenties who taught themselves the craft. There’s a whole generation out there waiting for a chance to break through,” said Mark Nelson, programming director of Sleepy Hollow Cinema and general manager of the Mahoning Drive-In Theater. “Horror has always been where new filmmakers cut their teeth, it rewards imagination over budget. We want FrightFest to be where a student gets that first shot, and screens their work where the Headless Horseman still rides.”
Got a story that keeps people up at night? Sleepy Hollow is waiting.
Submissions are open to high school and undergraduate college students anywhere in the US. Films should be 10 minutes or less, including credits, and should be submitted via the festival’s FilmFreeway page at filmfreeway.com/SleepyHollowFrightFest. The submission deadline is September 1, and entry is free of charge.
