Cyndi Loza

McQueen High School senior Marlee Newman has made her mark.

The 17-year-old Reno student was named the winner of this year’s Reno Film Festival poster contest during the festival’s Oscar Shorts screenings on March 13.

As a winner, Newman will receive two all-access passes to the four-day festival that begins May 1, and her artwork will be used on all advertising and promotional materials for the event.

“The fact that this poster is going to be displayed all over town, it feels like I finally made a mark in my life,” Newman said.

Newman’s entry was selected from more than 25 submissions and featured a blend of colors and film strips.

“I think her (design) was colorful and catchy, and that’s what we were looking for,” festival spokesman Bob Alessandrelli said.

But Newman said she had other motives for entering the contest.

“I’m a real film buff,” Newman said. “So, two access passes made me want to win it even more.”

Newman’s mother, Phyllis Newman, said her daughter has been interested in art since she was about 5 years old. As a child, she said, she would enter her drawings in contests and submit them to magazines.

“I’m just extremely proud of her,” Phyllis Newman said. “There was lots of screaming in the house when she clicked on her e-mail and it said ‘congratulations.’”

Newman will continue her interest in art as a student at the University of California, Los Angeles.

For more information on the film festival, visit www.renofilmfestival.com.