Students Show Their Talent at Festival

“Art is our one true global language. It knows no nation, it favors no race, and it acknowledges no class. It speaks to our need to reveal, heal, and transform. It transcends our ordinary lives and lets us imagine what is possible.'”

These words of Richard Kamler's were quoted at the awards ceremony for the Ruby Zima Student Film and Arts Festival at  on Saturday. The quote was delivered by Ruby Zima herself, a former drama teacher for whom the festival was named, as she addressed a room full of young, blossoming visual, performing and film artists of all grade levels.

Kamler's words are certainly true of Fenton senior Samantha Chalut's work, which reflects her own process of shifting from childhood to adulthood—a theme that is universal. She took the best in show award in the visual arts category with her photo, Secretive.

“It's about the decaying of childhood dreams,” Chalut explained of the winning piece. “In the photo, the girl is wearing a sort of crown and it's kind of like when a little girl dreams of becoming a princess. Now she's grown up and that dream has faded.”

Chalut says that she plans to pursue a career as an artist and has been taking pictures from the time she could hold a camera.

“My mom always helped me with anything I wanted to do,” Chalut says.

First place in the film category went to Patrick Lubahn and Austin Golden, both from Linden High School, for I Shrunk Myself.

The film is about a teenager who unknowingly downloads an application on his IPhone that shrinks him. He tries to get help from his best friend, who inadvertently shrinks himself as well.

“We liked the fact that the film didn't try to reflect a message that parents and teachers were espousing and it didn't try to be a Hollywood movie,” said Daniel Herbert,  a University of Michigan professor of screen arts & culture and one of the judges in the film category. “They chose a topic relevant to them and used good effects. It worked in its own technical limits.”

Third place winner in the film category went to Gabe Jamison for his public service announcement about recycling batteries.

“Our assignment was to do a public service announcement and I was trying to find something that not everyone was doing. Recycling was a common one, but recycling batteries seemed more original,” said Jamison.

The  sophomore said that the style for his piece, which used stop-motion animation, was inspired by the Kindle commercials.

“The hardest part was staying still in between pictures,” Jamison said. “We took 400 pictures for a 30 second film.”

It took Cody Guy from Linden High School two weeks to film his entry, Physical, which was inspired by his own trip to the doctor.

“It's about the awkwardness of getting a physical, how uncomfortable it can be,” said Guy.

Guy, who had three film entries, says he plans to pursue a career in film at the University of Michigan.

Professor Herbert said he was impressed by the overall quality of the films.

“I'm blown away by what high school students are doing, how sophisticated they are for their age," he said.

From the singing group the Ambassadors to the painters, photographers, cameramen and women, their parents and teachers, the arts are clearly alive and appreciated in Fenton.

“It's heartening to see that teachers are integrating the arts into their subjects, even if there aren't specific classes for every area,” said Zima. “It's just wonderful.”