July 2006
Three productions by students in the BHS Video Production Program are among the winners of the 30th Annual Young People’s Film & Video Festival. They are “Bittersweet” (a short film about a contagious bad mood) by Coburn Erskine, Becca Rice & George Westberg, “Special Successes” (a documentary on the BHS Special Education Program) by Clayton Brendan, Jenna Gregor & Madison Murphy, and “Beacon Hill B-Boys” (a documentary about the dance culture of the Jefferson Community Center) by Nick Davis, Tony Maurice & Fiona Shearer.
This competitive festival accepted entries from students in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. It was coordinated by the Northwest Film Center in Portland, Oregon, and sponsored by Comcast. Submissions were judged for their storytelling, originality, artistic merit, technical achievement, and investigation of subject matter by a jury of educators and film professionals.
Winning productions will be shown at an awards ceremony Sunday, July 16 at 2 p.m. at the Portland Art Museum Whitsell Auditorium (1219 SW Park, Portland, Oregon). The event is free, and the public is welcome to attend. The program will run approximately 120 minutes.
Last year, Ballard High School students also had three winning productions in the festival. Two of those went on to further honors. “TC4” took 3rd Prize at the national Derek Freese High School Film & Video Festival in Philadelphia. “The Drive Thru” won the Audience Award at the Seattle International Film Festival’s FutureWave – the forum for young filmmakers.
