11 Films Chosen For First Ever Tiger Film Festival: Hi-Line Blog

Rhydian Talbot/Staff Writer

In celebration of cinematographic talent, the high school will showcase 11 films written, directed, acted and edited by students.

The film festival, debuting in its first year, came to fruition after a proposal from social studies teacher Chad Van Cleve.

”I’ve taught at a few different schools, and I’ve always noticed that kids were filming things and making movies but never had a venue for it, and when I would do a video project in class, some kids would show a great amount of talent,” Van Cleve said. “I didn’t even think about it for CF until Sara Gabriele won a documentary award for C-SPAN, so clearly there were talented students here interested in this outlet.”

Preparation for the film festival began in December when permission was garnered from school administrators and other teachers were recruited to assist in the judging process. Posters calling for student submissions appeared in the halls a week before Winter Break, but the brunt of the preparation for the film festival took place mid-March after all submissions — 17 films total — had been received.

From there, a panel of judges critiqued the films based on aspects like story and its subsequent message, the ability of the participants to tell the story, technical merit, editing and direction. The 11 featured projects received the highest scores on the grading rubric.

In addition to assistance in critiquing the submissions, certain teachers and students dedicated extra time to help the fledgling event take flight. Art teacher Lisa Klenske and the art club created the awards to be presented at the festival, drama teacher Michelle Rathe assisted performers from the acting standpoint and broadcast journalism teacher Brian Winkel aided students in video editing.

Senior Jacob Byers took the initiative as student coordinator for the event after Van Cleve approached Senior Leadership with the proposed film festival. He helped create posters and broadcast announcements, recruited emcees for the evening and decorated the auditorium.

“It’s awesome that we have this many students with talent when it comes to film producing, and that they get this opportunity to show it off,” Byers said.

Student participation and expression of talent served as the foundation for Van Cleve’s push for the festival, recognizing the importance of the film’s creation as much as its success.

“What’s been most surprising to me is how the end product isn’t just the films, it’s how students have worked together to create those films. Sometimes students who don’t normally interact together work together, and I’m hoping that kind of involvement will create school unity,” Van Cleve said. “We have a group of students emceeing and setting the environment, kids who are organizing the work, kids who are operating in the behind-the-scenes fields to put this together. We wanted this to be as student run as possible.”

The student-run event will present each of the 11 winning submissions with emcee introductions throughout the evening. Nine awards will be given in categories such as Best Original Film, Best Actor/Best Actress and Best Film in a Category Undefined.

As an added twist, audience members will be able to vote for their favorite film in the Viewer’s Choice category, allowing student critique of the films to possibly contrast with the critique of an adult panel.

Such interaction will foster what Van Cleve hopes to be, “immediate responses for students in a venue that allows them to present their talents.”

The film festival will take place April 9 at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium. Admission is free, and popcorn will be provided, also free of charge.