Thank you to all who submitted their screenplays to the 2021 Phoenix Film Festival Short Screenplay Competition.
We are very excited to announce this year's winners!
First Place
Petrov by Ryan Patch of Sun Valley, CA
In 1983, a Soviet Air Watch officer must make the most important decision of his life when he learns that the USA has launched five nuclear missiles at the USSR. A true story based on declassified Russian documents.
Second Place
Ella by Rodgers Wilson of Phoenix, AZ
Based on a true story, The first Black female physician in Louisiana faces misogyny, and racism in the early 20th Century as she embarks on a new career in the segregated south.
Third Place
MIJO by John McCarney of Goodyear, AZ
As the Second American Civil War rages, an American father risks his life to get his son across the border to safety in Mexico.
Finalists
What's Wrong With Me? by Shawna Baca of Los Angeles, AZ
A young Indigenous woman must battle to escape the mental purgatory that she is trapped in before it consumes her.
The Basement by James Burns of Phoenix, AZ
Trapped in a cage in his father’s basement, a young boy fights to escape with his life; but when he discovers his father’s dark secret, things become a little more complicated than he imagined.
CHAT by Kim Hornsby of Seattle, WA
When a plain accountant attracts the online attention of a handsome man quarantined in a London Hotel room, she plays out the escalating and creepy relationship to the end just like she planned.
Divorce By Combat! by Carl Huebner of Brooklyn, NY
A novice attorney must defend an adulterous queen against the king's champion in an unconventional legal proceeding where the courtroom is a gladiatorial arena.
Jessie by John McCarney of Goodyear, AZ
An elderly passenger confronts a mysterious young stranger on a city bus in 1955 Alabama.
Graveyard Girl by Sixa Monmarché of Gilbert, AZ
A deaf cemetery groundskeeper falls for an abused teen with supernatural powers and plots a robbery to help her escape her tortured life.
Heroes and Villains by Collin O'Brien of Scottsdale, AZ
A young superfan finds out that he's fighting for the wrong side and tries to become the hero he wants to be.
