Sunday, November 29, 2015

BALLARD FILMMAKERS WIN AT FIVE-STATE FESTIVAL


Two short films by students from the Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking Program were honored by Fresh Film Northwest.  This competitive regional festival is coordinated by the Northwest Film Center in Portland, Oregon.  It accepts entries from filmmakers ages 13 to 19 in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.  This is the eleventh year in a row that students from Ballard’s Digital Filmmaking Program have been among the winners. 

The music video Today, by Coleman Andersen, PJ Hase and Bergen Johnson, was one of only a dozen films selected for the festival’s Winners Program.  Set to the song of the same title by The Lovely Static (a BHS band comprised of Percy Boyle, Jasper Cote, and Gus Meyer), the video contrasts the daily grind in an office cubicle with the wide world outside.  The visual story Anne, by Rachel Cole, Jaya Flanary and Meagen Tajalle, received an Honorable Mention.  The short explores the importance of human connection for the elderly. 

A jury of filmmakers and educators screened nearly 100 entries from across the five- state region to select winners for the festival.  The winning films were screened at the Portland Art Museum’s Whitsell Auditorium on November 14.  The Ballard shorts can now be seen online at www.vimeo.com/bhsfilmprogram .

To see new work by BHS filmmakers, attend the Ballard Film Festival on Saturday, February 6 or Friday, February 26 at 7 pm in the BHS auditorium.  Tickets are $10 for adults or $5 for students.  All proceeds support students in the BHS Digital Filmmaking Program.