Monday, July 13, 2009

BALLARD HIGH SCHOOL FILMMAKERS RECEIVE INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

Unplugged, a short film by Ballard High School video production students Diana Federighi (’08), Kaelan Gilman (’10) & Del Brummet (’10), was recently named an Official Selection by the 11th Annual Seoul International Youth Film Festival. SIYFF is one of the largest and most prestigious youth film festivals in Asia. The event spans the week of July 9 – 15 and includes an international youth filmmaking camp.

The festival features films made by 13 – 18 year olds as well as films about children and teenagers made by adults. This year, 821 films were submitted from 44 different countries. Only 36 films were selected for the festival through a highly competitive process. For more information, just click on the headline to visit the festival website.

Unplugged is the story of a teen whose connection to music deepens after the loss of his iPod. The short had not originally been entered in SIYFF, but the festival committee saw the film on the Images of Youth Video Festival website and then contacted Ballard High School to request that the short be submitted. Unplugged had won awards for Special Recognition for Overall Excellence in Media and Peer Achievement from the Images of Youth Video Festival in 2008. (It can still be screened on that website under “past festival winners” at http://www.imagesofyouthfilmfestival.org/.) Unplugged was also named an Official Selection of the National Film Festival for Talented Youth this year.