The Gotham Film & Media Institute has just announced five winners for its fifth annual Focus Features & JetBlue Student Short Film Showcase. Through their program, the Gotham–along with their partners Jet Blue, Focus Features, and Soho House–aims to showcase and uplift a group of diverse and emerging filmmakers.

As reported by Deadline, the five winners and their short films are as follows:

Kevin Haefelin (Fuse, Columbia University), Xinjing Lao (Xiahoui and His Cows, New York University), Sisa Quispe (Urpi: Her Last Wish, City College of New York), James Ross (Don’t Blink, Florida State University), and Mel Sangyi Zhao (Return to Youth, California Institute of the Arts–it should also be noted that Zhao is a 2022 graduate of Gotham EDU’s Film and Media Career Development Program).

This year, projects from 34 graduate film schools were submitted to the Showcase, constituting over half of the graduate film programs in the United States. The five winners were selected by a special jury, and they will be recognized at the 2023 Gotham Awards Ceremony on November 27th at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. Additionally, the winners will each receive a $10,000 grant, and their films will be shown on JetBlue’s seatback entertainment systems for one year. If you fly JetBlue and are interested in seeing these films, they will be available under the “Gotham Selects” movie category. If not, they will also be available on Focus Features digital streaming platforms. On top of this exposure, mentoring and workshopping opportunities from The Gotham will also be offered to the winning filmmakers.

Executive Director of The Gotham Film & Media Institute, Jeffrey Sharp commented, “With both extraordinary talent and vision, these students have demonstrated clear command of the craft that will take them all very far on their filmmaking journeys…We’re thrilled to recognize each of them at the upcoming Gotham Awards Ceremony and are grateful for the support of our faithful partners JetBlue, Focus Features, and Soho House.”