Riverhead Student Wins 3 Awards At New York Long Island Film Festival

RIVERHEAD, NY — A Riverhead High School student won three awards at the New York Long Island Film Festival in Lindenhurst recently.

Riverhead High School students who are enrolled in the digital filmmaking course recently participated in the NYLIFF, an island-wide film event that featured over 100 films made by both students and professional filmmakers, the Riverhead Central School District said.

Junior Emma Acritelli’s featured short film, "Cons of Collecting Dust," won three awards at the festival: Best Animation, Best Micro Short and the Spirit of NYLIFF Award, the district said.

"Emma undoubtedly deserves all of the accolades that she is receiving for this film," said Riverhead High School fine arts teacher Caitlin Sheridan, who instructs digital filmmaking. "She was given a vague prompt for the project and went above and beyond the expectations. The film did not need to incorporate stop-motion animation, but she based her whole film on these challenging techniques, which came out phenomenal!"

The district said that this year, the digital filmmaking course "has blossomed, with its welcoming of advanced students such as Emma. Through the class, these students have access to exceptional resources and opportunities that enhance the development of their filmmaking skills. For someone such as Emma, who hopes to pursue filmmaking in college, this is a valuable experience that greatly advances future academic and career paths to be pursued. Students can build portfolios to be used for film school applications and engage in a collaborative and creative environment."

"We are excited about the district’s ability to provide this impactful course and truly hope that more Riverhead students take advantage of the amazing resources we have available," Sheridan said. "Our class has become a family, and the support the students provide to one another is exactly what I hope for as an educator."

Emma Acritelli’s award-winning short film can be viewed here; she also discusses her inspiration for the short film in a video here.