2018
Awards
- Red Rock
- Grand Jury Prize for Best Music Video – Atlas World
2017
Awards
- Scout
- Best Music Video – Atlas World
- Best Director (presented by Adolescent – Atlas World
- TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) Next Wave Jump Cuts
- Canada 150 Award for Best Film – Atlas World
- Best Director – Atlas World
- Luminescence
- Best Film – Atlas World
- NFFTY
- Best Music Video – Atlas World
- Bellingham Music Film Festival
- Best Music Video – Atlas World
- Lovett
- Best International Narrative Film – Atlas World
- Best of Fest – Atlas World
Nominations
- Scout – Best Film, Best Female Filmmaker, Best Music Video, Best Cinematography, Best Director – Atlas World
- International Music Video Underground – Semi-Finalist, Best Director – Atlas World
Screenings
- Atlas World
- The Future of Film is Feminist (Seattle, WA) July 13
- Scout – (Stowe, VT) June 9-11
- Portland Horror – (Portland, OR) June 8-10
- CLIPPED – (Sydney, Australia) June 3
- ConCarolinas – (Charlotte, NC) June 2-4
- Dances with Films – (Hollywood, CA) June 1-11
- SIFF – (Seattle, WA) May 29
- Luminescence – (Palo Alto, CA) May 20
- Bloody Horror – (Ottawa, Canada) May 7
- CineYouth – (Chicago, IL) May 4-6
- NFFTY – (Seattle, WA) Apr 27-30
- Twister Alley – (Woodward, OK) Apr 27-29
- South Georgian Bay – (Wasaga Beach, Canada) – Apr 19
- Toronto Spring of Horror – (Toronto, Canada) Apr 7-9
- Lovett – (Atlanta, GA) Apr 7
- Bellingham Music Film Festival – (Bellingham, WA) Apr 6-8
- Little Terrors – (Toronto, Canada) Mar 27
- Eve – (Ottawa, Canada) Mar 17-18
- Toronto Shorts – (Toronto, Canada) Mar 13-17
- Ellie
- Female Fuse – (Los Angeles) June 23-25
- City of Shorts – (Toronto, Canada) Mar 14
- Kingston Canadian – (Kingston, Canada) Mar 2-5
2016
Awards
- Horrible Imaginings
- Second Place, Student and Youth – Ellie
- Santa Monica
- Second Place, Live Action – Ellie
- FilmQuest
- Best Youth Film – Ellie
- Scout
- Best Female Filmmaker – Ellie
- Dead Walk
- Best Student Film – Kurayami no Wa
- Durham
- Best Editing – Ellie
- Longleaf
- Best Student Narrative Film – Ellie
- ConCarolinas
- Best Original Score – Kurayami no Wa
- TIFF Next Wave Jump Cuts
- Gertrude Löwengren Award for Best Fiction Film – Ellie
- Toronto Spring of Horror
- Best Music Video – We All Go the Same
- Lovett
- Best International Narrative Short – Ellie
- Kingston Canadian
- Best Youth Short – Kurayami no Wa
Nominations
- Dead Walk – Nominated Best Cinematography
Screenings
- Ellie
- Guam International – (Guam) Nov 16-20
- ITSA – (Sonora, CA) Nov 11-13
- Red Rock – (Cedar City, UT) Nov 11-19
- St Cloud – (St Cloud, MN) Nov 5-12
- Lone Star – (Fort Worth, TX) Nov 10-13
- AAHSFF – (New York City) Oct 7-9
- Lake Charles – (Lake Charles, LA) Oct 7-9
- Ocktober – (New York City) Oct 6-9
- Catalina – (Catalina Island, CA) Sep 28-Oct 2
- Downtown Tyler – (Tyler, TX) Sep 21-24
- Calgary International – (Calgary, AB) Sep 21-Oct 2
- Horrible Imaginings – (San Diego, CA) Sep 7-11
- Sidewalk – (Birmingham, AL) Aug 26-28
- Santa Monica International– (Santa Monica, CA) July 9-10
- FilmQuest – (Sandy, UT), June 17-25
- Scout – (Stowe, VT) June 17-19
- Durham – (Durham, England) June 11
- New Cumberland – (New Cumberland, PA) June 11
- Longleaf – (Raleigh, NC) May 13-14
- TIFF Next Wave Jump Cuts – (Toronto, Canada) May 9
- Lovett – (Atlanta, GA) May 7
- Twister Alley – (Woodward, OK) May 5-7
- CineYouth – (Chicago, IL) May 5-7
- Future of Film Showcase – (Toronto, ON) May 5
- NFFTY – (Seattle, WA) April 28 – May 1
- Newport Beach – (Newport Beach, CA) April 21-28
- ASK – (Prishtina, Kosovo) April
- We All Go the Same
- ScareLA – (Los Angeles) Aug 6-7
- FC3 – (Rockford, IL) May 14-15
- Luminescence – (Palo Alto, CA) Apr 23
- Albuquerque Film & Music Experience – (Albuquerque, NM) Apr 18-24
- Toronto Spring of Horror – (Toronto, Canada) Apr 8-10
- Leeds – (Leeds, UK) Mar 24-31
- Boomtown Film & Music Festival – (Beaumont, TX) Feb 25-27
- PCFF – (Providence, RI) Feb 12-22
- SoCal – (Huntington Beach, CA) Feb 10-15
- Off Season Shorts – (Victor, Idaho) Feb 5-6
- Little Terrors – (Toronto, Canada) Jan 27
- Albuquerque – (Albuquerque, NM) Jan 7-10
- Kurayami no Wa
- Dead Walk – (Madison, WI) June 11
- ConCarolinas – (Charlotte, NC) June 3-5
- Portland Horror – (Portland, OR) June 1-2
- Kingston Canadianl – (Kingston, Canada) Feb 25-28
- Boomtown Film & Music – (Beaumont, TX) Feb 25-27
Press
- interview“5 Questions with Youth Shorts winner Morgana McKenzie” (Kingston Canadian Film Festival) – an interview with Morgana regarding her February 2016 win at the festival.
- interview“Q&A w/ Teen Filmmakers Morgana McKenzie and Carol Nguyen” (She Does the City) – an interview with Morgana and Carol after their recent wins at the Toronto International Film Festival Next Wave Jump Cuts event.
- interview“Young Filmmaker Interview: Morgana McKenzie” (Big Little Filmmaker) – a very extensive interview by award winning filmmaker Kira Bursky.
- review “Future of Film Showcase 2016 Review: Ellie” (The Toronto Film Scene) – a very favourable review of Ellie.
- “Director Morgana McKenzie does a wonderful job of slowly revealing the secrets that Stephen has, always making sure to surprise viewers at every turn. Things are never what they appear to be in this short. Every time we figure something out, McKenzie throws another twist in that not only reveals more of the story, but takes the previous revelations into a new direction.“
- review“April 2016 Viewing Diary | The Sheila Variations” (Sheila O’Malley) – A blog post that includes a micro-review of “We All Go the Same” from the Albuquerque Film & Music Experience Festival.
- “Morgana McKenzie is 15 years old. That fact alone is astonishing, especially considering the elegant and planned-out LOOK of this short. Many films at the festival were interesting, in terms of their topics, but not all that well-thought-out in terms of visuals. McKenzie’s visuals are beautiful. Like Comfort Me with Absinthe, it’s an unofficial (but authorized) music video for the song of the same name by Radical Fire. You can watch the whole thing here and remember: 15 years old. It makes you think, “Jeez, I’ve been a slacker my entire life.”“
- pressSeventeen Magazine, April 2016 – A profile on filmmaker Kira Bursky that includes a sidebar on several other young female filmmakers, including Morgana.
- review“Anything Horror – Best Horror Shorts of 2015” – Round-up of shorts, with a capsule review of Kurayami no Wa:
- “The second short from the 2015 Blood in the Snow Film Festival, KURAYAMI NO WA is a rather batshit-crazy short film made by–get this–fifteen year old director and co-writer Morgana McKenzie. In it, a Japanese doomsday cult hands out tainted candy on Halloween which turns the population into murderous zombies. The plague spreads and the survivors are forced out into the harsh Canadian wilderness. The acting by the young cast is fantastic, and McKenzie tells the story in such a way that Tarantino himself could learn a trick or two. This is a fantastically fun and crazy short.“
2015
Awards
- ITSA
- Best Student Film – Kurayami no Wa
- All American
- Best Music Video – We All Go the Same
- East Anglian
- Best Music Video – We All Go the Same
- Lake Charles
- Best Student Film (High School Division) – We All Go the Same
- Downtown Tyler
- Best Young Filmmaker – Kurayami no Wa and We All Go the Same
- Brighton (BYFF)
- Best Short Film (13-15 year old division) – We All Go the Same
- Santa Monica International
- Best Music Video / astxperimental – We All Go the Same
- Zoom
- Best Cinematography – We All Go the Same
- ConCarolinas
- Best Makeup – We All Go the Same
- CineYouth
- Best Thriller, Junior Division – Kurayami no Wa
- Lovett
- Best Music Video – We All Go the Same
- Ottawa STUFF
- First Place – Kurayami no Wa
- Longleaf
- Ottawa Independent Video Awards
- Best Director Under 25 – We All Go the Same
Nominations, Honorable Mentions
- Northeast Horror – Nominated, Best Director
- All American – Nominated, Best International Film – We All Go the Same
- East Anglian – Nominated, Best Horror – Kurayami no Wa
- Wasteland – Honorable Mention, Music Video – We All Go the Same
- Thurrock International – Nominated, Best Music Video – We All Go the Same
Press
- review“Short Film Roundup (BITS Edition)” – Capsule reviews of films from the “Blood in the Snow” festival, including Kurayami no Wa:
- “This one’s a doozy. Kurayami no Wa (Japanese for “of the darkness”) follows teens in the wilderness as they try to survive an apocalypse induced by Halloween candy that turns people into zombies. It’s got a classical guitar score that will immediately make you pay attention, and offers a really compelling depiction of children learning to deal with a violent world. There’s also a detail about this short that I simply can’t leave out. The director, Morgana McKenzie, is only 16 years old. Making a film that’s this beautiful and offers such a unique perspective on a tired trope at her age is a remarkable achievement. I can only hope that McKenzie continues to work in film. If Kurayami no Wa is any indication, she has a fantastic body of work ahead of her. I commend BITS for showcasing her talent.”
- press“Film festival raises money for cancer research” – Algonquin Times article on the “Lights! Camera! Cure!” event where We All Go the Same screened.
- press“Tyler Film Festival celebrates short films, young directors” – article on the Downtown Tyler Film Festival where both Kurayami no Wa and We All Go the Same screened.
- interview“Crazy Young (An Interview with Morgana McKenzie)” – article by SAW Video in their ongoing Spotlight series, featuring local filmmakers
- press“Local film festival showcases Ottawa’s indie horrors” – article in “The Fulcrum” (University of Ottawa newspaper). A review of the Ottawa Spookshow vent where Kurayami no Wa screened.
- press“Morgana McKenzie: Women Filmmakers to be Featured at the Ottawa International Film Festival” – article by the “Women’s Film Collective” on Morgana’s inclusion in the Ottawa International Film Festival
- interview“Where Talent Blooms” – by Assholes Watching Movies
- press“First Women in Screen Based Media Event a success” by Emily Ramsay. A recap of the event, which included We All Go the Same.
- press“Ottawa Independent Video Award Winners” by Pat Mullen, regarding the Best Director Under 25 award for We All Go the Same.
Screenings
- Kurayami no Wa
- Tustin (Tustin, CA) Nov 20
- Blood in the Snow – (Toronto, Canada) Oct 27-29
- Northern Frights – (Sudbury, Canada) Oct 24
- Fake Flesh – (Kamloops, Canada) Oct 29-30
- ITSA – (Sonora, CA) Nov 13-15
- Twisted Horror Picture Show – (Woodward, OK) Oct 30
- Adelaide – (Adelaide and Port Lincoln, Australia) Oct 23-31
- Ottawa International – (Ottawa, Canada) Oct 16-18
- East Anglian – (Suffolk, England) Oct 16
- Urban Mediamakers – (Norcross, GA) Oct 8-11
- Ocktober – (New York, NY) Oct 1-4
- Guam International (Guam) Sep 26-30
- Downtown Tyler – (Tyler, TX) Sep 23-26
- Ottawa Spookshow and Fantastic Film – (Ottawa, Canada), Sep 12
- Midwest Sci-Fi – (Bloomington, MN) July 3
- TIFF Next Wave Jump Cuts – (Toronto, Canada) May 19
- CineYouth – (Chicago) May 7-9
- Ottawa STUFF – (Ottawa, Canada) May 7
- We All Go the Same
- Northeast Horror (Teaneck, NJ) Dec 10
- Albuquerque – (Albuquerque, NM) Jan 7-10
- Tustin – (Tustin, CA) Nov 20
- Mirror Mountain – (Ottawa, Canada) Dec 4-6
- Fake Flesh Film Festival – (Kamloops, Canada) Oct 29-30
- Open World Toronto – (Toronto, Canada) Oct 25
- Northern Frights – (Sudbury, Canada) Oct 24
- ITSA – (Sonora, CA) Nov 13-15
- Grand River –(Cambridge, Canada) Nov 7
- Adelaide – (Adelaide and Port Lincoln, Australia) Oct 23-31
- Lights! Camera! Cure! – (Ottawa, Canada) Oct 22
- Ottawa International – (Ottawa, Canada) Oct 16-18
- East Anglian – (Suffolk, England) Oct 16
- Lake Charles – (Lake Charles, LA) Oct 9-11
- All American – (New York City) Oct 9-11
- Urban Mediamakers – (Norcross, GA) Oct 8-11
- Highway 61 – (Pine City, MN) Oct 2-4
- Guam International – (Guam) Sep 26-30
- Wasteland – (California City) Sep 24-27
- Downtown Tyler – (Tyler, TX) Sep 23-26
- BYFF – (Brighton, England) Sep 19
- Horrible Imaginings – (San Diego, CA) Sep 11-13
- Sidewalk – (Birmingham, AL) Aug 28-30
- Dream Film Showcase – (Vancouver, WA) July 30
- Dead of Winter – (Brisbane, Australia) July 25
- Hollywood North – (Belleville, Canada) July 16-19
- Thurrock International – (Thurrock, England) Sep 27
- Santa Monica International – (Santa Monica, CA) June 6
- Student Art Festival – (Goldenrod, Florida) TBD
- ConCarolinas – (Concord, NC) May 30-31
- Zoom – (Toronto) May 21
- TIFF Next Wave Jump Cuts – (Toronto) May 19
- CineYouth – (Chicago) May 7-9
- Lovett – (Atlanta) May 2, 2015
- NFFTY – (Seattle) April 23-26, 2015
- Ottawa Independent Video Awards – (Ottawa, Canada) April 11
- Kingston Canadian – (Kingston, Canada) Feb 26-Mar 1
- GIFTS
- Reel Expressions – (Poughkeepsie, NY) Sep 26
- SoCal CIFF – (Los Angeles, CA) July 25
- Voyager – (Durham, NC) May 2
- Longleaf – (Raleigh, NC) May 1-2
- TiltShift – (Salt Lake City, UT) Apr 25
- Green Mountain – (Montpelier, VT) Mar 25
- PCFF – (Providence, RI) Feb 12-22
2014
Awards
- NFFTY
- Best Emerging Female Filmmaker Award – (GIFTS)
- Prodigy Camp Scholarship
- Interlochen Future of Cinema
- Best of the Festival – (GIFTS)
- Columbus International Film + Video
- 1st Place, High School Certificate Award – (GIFTS)
- Highway 61
- 1st Place, Student Shorts Category – (GIFTS)
- Calgary International
- Best Narrative Short, Youth by Youth Cinema program – (GIFTS)
- CineYouth
- Best Thriller – (GIFTS)
- ITSA
- Best Horror (K-12 Student) – (GIFTS)
- ASK
- Best Editing – (GIFTS)
Nominations
- Thurrock International – Nominated for “Best Under 18” award
Press
- Interviews
- GIFTS – May 6 2014 – Rogers Daytime Ottawa interview with Derick Fage
- GIFTS – April 14 2014 – Radio interview with Hallie Cotnam on CBC Ottawa Morning.
- Web/Press References
- We All Go the Same – December 2014 – “Morgana’s Story“, a five page article, with behind-the-scenes production photos, about Morgana and her We All Go the Same short-film production.
- GIFTS – October 7 2014 – “3 Things to do Tuesday” (cached version), SC Times (St. Cloud) article referencing St. Cloud Film Festival. The article prominently features a film still from GIFTS.
- GIFTS – September 15 2014 – “Stills life: Images from new festival Fling!” (cached version), BBC News Scotland article on the new Fling! film festival. The article prominently features a film still from GIFTS.
Screenings
- GIFTS
- ITSA (Sonora, California) November 7-9
- Hamilton (Hamilton, Ontario) November 3-9
- All American (New York City) October 23-27
- YoungCuts (Montreal) October 22-24
- Heartland (Indianapolis, IN) October 16-25
- Woodstock (Woodstock) October 15-19
- Urban Mediamakers (Atlanta, GA) October 12-18
- St. Cloud (St. Cloud, MN) October 4-7
- Fling! (Tain, Scotland) October 4-5
- Highway 61 (Pine City, MN) October 3-5
- GIFF (Hagatna, Guam) September 23-28
- Calgary International, Youth by Youth Cinema, September 21
- Thurrock International– Thurrock, England, September 2014
- Josiah Media– San Antonio, Texas, July 10-12 2014
- TIFF Next Wave Jump Cuts– Toronto, Ontario, May 20 2014
- 21 Minus– Chicago IL, May 17 2014
- CineYouth – Chicago IL, May 8-10 2014
- Lovett– Atlanta GA, May 3 2014
- ASK (Prishtina, Kosovo) April 29-30
- NFFTY– Seattle WA, April 24-27 2014
- GIFTS – A private screening of GIFTS was held for family and friends at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum theatre. See Morgana’s blog post about the screening and the acceptance of GIFTS into NFFTY (National Film Festival for Talented Youth).