Two film festivals show off works of young filmmakers

The signs of spring are birds singing, rain thinning out and student filmmakers hustling to finish their movie projects in time for contest entry and public screening.

Two film festivals featuring the creations of local student filmmakers are scheduled for the next two Thursday nights. At 7 p.m. May 3, a first-ever Young Adult Northwest Film Festival is set to screen at the Kiggins Theatre in downtown Vancouver. Admission is free.

The Y.A. Northwest fest will show 20 different works by students in grades six through 12 that were created during the 2017-2018 school year. Overall winners of $200 awards for Best High School Film and Best Middle School Film will be announced, along with winners of Most Creative, Best Acting and Best Directing.

“It’s been a bit stressful putting everything together, and it’s been a huge learning experience; but overall, it’s been incredibly fun and fulfilling,” said festival co-organizer Halima Tufts, a junior at Vancouver School of Arts and Academics who adopted teacher Andy Berhow’s idea of putting on a student film festival after visiting the Kiggins on a field trip. Tufts discovered that Danny Garrison, a freshman at Heritage High School, was pursuing a similar idea. So they combined forces.

“We actually ended up getting way more submissions than we ever thought we would,” Tufts said. “All of these young filmmakers have worked incredibly hard, and I am very impressed by the work that I have seen by them.”

‘Super cool’ in Camas

One week later, at 6 p.m. May 10, the Liberty Theatre in Camas hosts the fourth annual Camas School District Film Festival. This festival is open to more contestants, with categories for filmmakers in grades K-5, 6-8 and 9-12, and awards in each category: People’s Choice, Judge’s Choice, Best Acting, Best Editing, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography — and, of course, honorable mentions. Admission to this event is free too, with doors opening at 5 p.m. for the 6 p.m. screening; the theater advises arriving early to grab seats.

According to the rules, the Camas films must be no longer than 6 minutes. Both sets of rules specify that the films must be age-appropriate — or, as Camas puts it, clean enough to show your parents.

“It’s really great to be behind the scenes and see how much work goes into an event like this,” said Camas student Ty Gouveia, who’s organizing the whole thing as his senior project. He said he approached Camas Superintendent Jeff Snell with some suggestions for improving this year’s festival and got his comeuppance as Snell volunteered him for a key role in making it happen.

“It was super cool to be asked,” Gouveia said. “Our goal has been to get as many kids involved as possible.”