Molded by the gruesome horror films she was introduced to a far too young an age (thanks Mom!), Ariel Sinelnikoff has dedicated her filmmaking career to alchemizing life’s grim realities into hyper stylized genre films. Exploring such issues as women’s and LGBTQ+ rights in her horror film Enceinte and action-thriller Catfight — both of which have been well received at festivals — Ariel’s work investigates the junction of beauty and the macabre to create stories of uniquely (and often messy) human experiences. Ariel's first horror feature script It Clings To Her is currently making strides in screenplay competitions, most recently making the semifinals at the Austin Film Festival as well as placing as the #18 Horror Feature of October 2021 on Coverfly's Red List and within the top 1% of 64,000+ discoverable scripts on their platform.
COVERFLY TOP 1% IN GENRE/FORMAT
IT CLINGS TO HER
COVERFLY RED LIST OCTOBER 2021
#16 HORROR FEATURE - IT CLINGS TO HER
SCREENCRAFT FEATURE COMPETITION 2021
QUARTERFINALIST - IT CLINGS TO HER
SCRIPT COMPETITION SEMIFINALIST - IT CLINGS TO HER
2021 NIGHTMARES FILM FESTIVAL
SCRIPT FINALIST - IT CLINGS TO HER
2021 GENREBLAST FILM FESTIVAL
SCRIPT FINALIST - IT CLINGS TO HER
SHORTLIST - IT CLINGS TO HER
SCREENCRAFT SCREENWRITING FELLOWSHIP 2021
SEMIFINALIST - IT CLINGS TO HER
2021 SICK CHICK FLICKS FILM FESTIVAL
OFFICIAL SELECTION - CATFIGHT
2020 ANOTHER HOLE IN THE HEAD FILM FESTIVAL
OFFICIAL SELECTION - CATFIGHT
OFFICIAL SELECTION - CATFIGHT
*Nominated for Best Director Short and Best Score Short
2020 QUEENS WORLD FILM FESTIVAL
OFFICIAL SELECTION - CATFIGHT
2019 URBAN ACTION SHOWCASE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
OFFICIAL SELECTION - CATFIGHT
OFFICIAL SELECTION - CATFIGHT
BROOKLYN COLLEGE'S FEIRSTEIN GRADUATE SCHOOL OF CINEMA DEAN'S AWARD
2019 DIRECTING TRACK RECIPIENT
SCREENCRAFT FALL 2018 FILM FUND SEMIFINALIST
OFFICIAL SELECTION - CATFIGHT
OFFICIAL SELECTION - 4:48 PSYCHOSIS
SCREENCRAFT SPRING 2018 FILM FUND SEMIFINALIST
OFFICIAL SELECTION - CATFIGHT
NEW YORK MAYOR'S OFFICE OF TV AND MEDIA SCHOLARSHIP
RECIPIENT, 2016-19
2014 ANOTHER HOLE IN THE HEAD FILM FESTIVAL
OFFICIAL SELECTION - ENCEINTE
2013 SAN FRANCISCO UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL
OFFICIAL SELECTION - HARVEST
2013 SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY FILM FINALS
OFFICIAL SELECTION - HARVEST
SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATE NOMINEE FOR HER FILMS DON'T DO SADNESS
AND GIRL WITH ONE EYE
2013 RONALD A. JACOBS SCHOLARSHIP
RECIPIENT FOR HER FILMS DON'T DO SADNESS AND GIRL WITH ONE EYE