Sequim Gazette staff

Zavier Zarit has hopes of studying communications and video production at Western Washington University.

Thanks to his submission to the Sequim Education Foundation’s 2015 Student Film Festival, he’s getting some help along the way.

Zarit’s piece, “So No One Goes Hungry,” took top honors at SEF’s event on April 17, earning the youth a $1,000 college scholarship, and the top Sequim Sunrise Rotary Community Service Award, which included a $500 cash prize.

“So No One Goes Hungry” details efforts by the Sequim Food Bank staff to help feed community members in need.

“I learned how involved our community is,” Zarit said. “I wanted to give basic information about the food bank and where all the food comes from.”

Paul McMullin’s art concept piece “Storage” took second place, while Zoe Yates (“Journey to the Core,” a stop-motion film) tied for third place with McKenna Hastings and Kali Wiker’s “Seahawks Super Bowl Heartbreak,” a music video centered around the Seahawks’ Super Bowl defeat (see www.youtube.com/watch?v=pew5Hv-_CSs).

Hastings and Wiker also won the Elkie Award for people’s choice and Wiker was named Best Actress.

Nicholas D’Amico, a seventh-grader at Sequim Middle School, took home Best Actor for his work in “Facts and Info About CenturyLink.”

Sequim Sunrise Rotary’s Community Service Award actually had two winners, with Zarit earning the top honor and Sebastian Goettling and Matthew Schock’s “WAG,” a film detailing efforts of the Welfare for Animals Guild, earning a $250 prize.

About $8,000 in scholarships and cash prizes were awarded at this year’s student film festival, with 16 students contributing to nine films overall.