– Middle School Best Film: ‘A Dog’s Day: Featuring Luna’ (Pilar Jacobs, Grover Cleveland Middle School)

– High School Best Documentary: ‘The STARS Program’ (Arielle Vidalina Borges, Holmdel High School)

– High School Best Narrative: ‘Short’ (Sam Chuck, Mahwah High School

– High School Best Director: ‘Dear Judges,’ (Rachel Thornton, Hopewell Valley Central High School)

– High School Best Actor: Ella Karuna Williams, ‘Dear Judges,’ (Rachel Thornton, Hopewell Valley Central High School)

– College Best Film: ‘Solo’ (Alice Almiron, Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts)

– College Best Director: ‘Out of Body’ (Sophia Rosa Montano, Montclair State University)

– College Best Actor (TIE) Red Shapoo, ‘The Movie’ (Vaughn Battista, Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts); Lauren Therese, ‘The Smile’ (Isaiah Gomez, Montclair State University)

– School Award: Howell High School

– Audience Favorite: ‘A Fistful of Pasta’ (Joseph Guzzone, Tyrone Shields, Tom Hernandez – Middletown High School South)

– Overall Highest Rated: ‘Short’ (Sam Chuck, Mahwah High School)

The Count Basie Center for the Arts would like to thank this year’s judges, our esteemed roundtable panelists, Sony Pictures’ Classics, Bank of America, Tom Bernard, Kim Allen, Steven Gorelick and the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Monmouth Arts, Sony Home Entertainment, Linda Lipman, Andrew Musser, Nina DeGori, Amy Wojtowicz, Izzy Sackowitz, Jennifer Lee, Raphael Silva and filmfreeway.com.

Word on the 2023 Count Basie Center Teen + College Film Fest is coming soon!