Four short films by thirteen students in the Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking Program have been named Official Selections of the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY). This competitive festival showcases outstanding work by filmmakers age 22 and younger. NFFTY is a rare opportunity for high school students to share the spotlight with college students from our nation’s best film schools. This year NFFTY will feature 214 films from 30 states and 15 countries. Screeners made the selections from a pool of 800 entries. NFFTY opens at the Seattle Cinerama Theater on Thursday, April 24 and continues through Sunday, April 27 at the Seattle Center.
These short films by Ballard High School film students have been selected for screening.
Song for Anna by Lucy Harstrick, Isaiah Hoban-Halvorsen, Josh Vredevoogd & Kiana Wyld
Stop Pretending by Marlene Anderson, Khasbold Bataa, Gabe Fabens, Zach Green & Lorenzo Rossi
Then & Now by Enjuli Chhaniara (’13), Dayan Flynn-Walsh (’13) & Ana Krafchick (’13)
Also selected was A Sleeping Giant, produced independently by Ballard film student Leo Pfeifer.
BHS also has a team competing in the 48-hour Film Off. Teams from ten high schools have two days to produce a short from start to finish. The winner (selected in part by the audience) will win funds for their school’s production program. You can catch the 48-Hour Film Off – and cast your vote - on Saturday, April 26 at 1:30 pm at the SIFF Uptown 1.
In addition to screenings and awards, NFFTY includes forums on filmmaking. For a complete schedule of events, show times, and ticket information, visit www.nffty.org.
NFFTY itself is the brainchild of Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking alumnus Jesse Harris (’04). Harris made history in 2004 when Living Life, the feature film he had written and directed as a senior project, was purchased by FilmMates and given a theatrical release. (It opened in Seattle in April, 2005.) The festival was co-founded by Harris, Kyle Seago (’07) – a Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking student at the time - and Jocelyn RC (Bellevue High School, ’07). A growing list of sponsors and partners paved the way for this eighth annual event.
