YorkFlix is York’s online streaming platform that showcases some of the best short films created by York’s film production and media arts students. The collected films are divided into one of four genres: alternative, documentary, fiction, and media arts. YorkFlix launched in the late 2018 school year.
The platform celebrates talented students within the program and showcases some of the most thought-provoking short films; from fiction pieces that blend into reality, to captivating documentaries, and mind-bending alternative films, there is something for every one.
Along with showcasing student work, YorkFlix provides an online space where community members and students can connect to and support other students’ work. Particularly during a pandemic, an online streaming service allows students from other disciplines to see what their film production and media arts peers are up to.
The creation of YorkFlix began with Alomar Kocur, Barbara Evans, and Brett Thompson, and contributions from Nesha Kumana and Nicole Beno, who helped redesign the website this past year.
According to Evans, “YorkFlix provides an important new window for audiences — wherever they are — to view a range of exciting creative works made by our film production and media arts students.”
It started first as a submission-based, digital platform, where Evans acted as curator. Since then, it has evolved into something more.
“Starting in 2020,” Kocur says, “we decided to make it into an extension of the pre-existing CineSiege showcase, and that has allowed us to grow the library significantly every year.” CineSiege, which is now in its ninetieth year, is a film festival open to the AMPD community and film lovers alike. Professors nominate short films for the festival from over two hundred films produced by students of all levels.
Student films, in previous years, had been showcased in a more traditional in-person manner in April at The Finish Line showcase on campus. With the ongoing pandemic, The Finish Line showcase has moved to virtual screenings.
After The Finish Line showcases finish in spring, the Cinema and Media Arts faculty nominate student films to the CineSiege Festival. “Films that are nominated to CineSiege are automatically submitted to YorkFlix one year after they have been released,” Kocur says. “This allows students to submit their films to external festivals in the interim without any conflicts of interest. For example, the films that were first screened at Finish Line in April 2021, and were nominated to CineSiege for November 2021, will appear on YorkFlix in the Summer of 2022.”
This streaming platform, available on the AMPD York website, is easy-to-use and offers a glimpse into some of the awe-inspiring work being done by York students.
