Five short films by sixteen 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, international festival showcases outstanding
work by filmmakers age 24 and younger.
NFFTY is a rare opportunity for high school students to share the
spotlight with college students from our nation’s best undergraduate and
graduate film schools. This year NFFTY
will feature 227 films from 24 countries and 33 states. NFFTY opens at the Seattle Cinerama Theater
on Thursday, April 28 and continues through Sunday, May 1 at the Seattle
Center.
These short films by Ballard High School film students have been selected for screening.
Big Coat by Jaya Flanary, Duncan Gowdy & Leo Pfeifer
Climate Change by Leo Pfeifer & Meagen Tajalle
Hologram by Miles Andersen, Emily Black, Sophie DeGreen, Jesse Romero & Sho Schrock
Today by Coleman Andersen, PJ Hase & Bergen Johnson
Voices by Jonathan Bowers, Aurore Bouriot, Brian Cropp & Jake Rehfeldt
BHS also has a team competing in the 48-hour Film Off. Teams from various 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.
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 tenth annual event.
