Presented by the Sequim Education Foundation
6 p.m. art show opens; 7 p.m. film festival begins
Friday, April 21, Sequim High School Auditorium, 533 N. Sequim Ave.
Suggested donation $5 for college scholarships/cash awards
Contact: Christy Ditlefsen at 582-3636 or cditlefsen@sequim.k12.wa.us
For more information, visit www.sequimeducationfoundation.org/film-festival/
While spring break is more than halfway through, several students are working hard to meet the April 10 deadline to submit work for the 12th Student Film Festival.
The annual event, sponsored by the Sequim Education Foundation, provides a platform for aspiring filmmakers in Sequim grades 6-12 to show their movies on the big screen and the chance to win cash prizes and college scholarships. This year, an art show begins at 6 p.m. followed by the festival at 7 p.m. Friday, April 21, in the Sequim High School Auditorium.
Sequim junior Abygail Mundy said she’s working on a dramatic film tentatively called “Alone.”
“It’s about a girl who feels alone and that her friends don’t notice how she feels,” Mundy said.
But the girl comes to a realization, she said, that “sometimes you need to learn how to be your own hero first.”
Mundy serves as master of ceremonies with classmate Annie Armstrong.
All films are all-ages and screened beforehand prohibiting foul language, violence and copyrighted music. First place receives $1,000, $750 for second and $500 for third with cash prizes awarded to art show winners including the “People’s Choice.”
This year, organizers added a category for volunteerism and a School Spirit Award highlighting a club or team with opportunities to win cash awards for both.
More than $50,000 in awards have been given out at the festival in its tenure including prizes for its poster winners.
Junior Dominique Hatton won $100 this year on her first entry saying she’s inspired by her older sister’s love for Manga, Japanese comic books.
A few Sequim students like Mundy have been working on their video editing skills through the school year in Christy Ditlefsen’s video production class that creates weekly videos on GNN or Growl News Network.
Each video, which can be found on YouTube under “Sequim GNN,” showcases students, teachers, people’s pets, sports, technology and more.
The nine students in the class divvy up a segment such as Tyler Reeves on sports, Atticus Wickert sharing pets, Nick Kingsley creating a the top-5 list and Zach Young doing final edits on everyone’s work.
While the students are constantly working in video production including green screen work, many of them were uncertain if they’d enter the contest.
Wickert said he’s considering a parody of TV survival shows while Young said he’s likely to help someone else on their project.
The number of films entered won’t be known until after April 10, Ditlefsen said.
For more information visit www.sequimeducationfoundation.org or contact Christy Ditlefsen at 582-3636.
Using Japanese Manga as inspiration, Sequim High School junior Dominique Hatton won the poster contest for the 12th Student Film Festival and Art Show. Submitted photo
Nick Kinglsey, left, contemplates his next video segment with classmate Mathew Fowler. Both students create videos weekly for Sequim High’s GNN, Growl News Network. Kingsley makes a top-5 list segment weekly and Fowler films a video celebrating students and staff’s birthdays that week. Both students are in the school’s video production class with some of the students working on films for the upcoming film festival.
