Two short films by 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.
NFFTY opens on Thursday, October 25 at the Uptown Cinemas and continues
through the weekend there and at the Seattle Center.
The Official Selections from
Ballard couldn’t be more different. Richard by Wylie Soltes, Ethan Hawthorne-Dallas,
Ian Colbeck, and Aaron Mamaril shows how a stolen tool kit creates an intergalactic
friendship. On the Backs of Salmon by Chris
Barrett, Martin Bolivar, Caroline Harader, Jasper Land, Maddie Lausted, Freeman
Marshall, Aaron Miller, Cecilia O’Rollins and Miles Whitworth recounts the
struggle of the Elwha people to remove the dam that flooded their creation site
and blocked the salmon essential for their way of life. Both films will be shown on Sunday, October
28 at 11:30 am at the Uptown Cinema 1. Tickets can be purchased online at www.nffty.org.
BHS
also has a team competing in the 48-hour
Film Off. Teams from high schools across
the country had 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. Ballard’s team consists of Liam Bonds, Saia
Dugan, Brendan Hickey, Jasper Laur and Marley Rankin, You can
watch the films – and cast your vote – at 10:30 am on Saturday, October 27 at
the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall.
In addition to screenings
and awards, NFFTY includes a Future of Film Fair featuring representatives of
various college programs for film and television and a variety of media
businesses. The event includes Film
Career Day, a series of informative lectures and discussions coordinated by the
City of Seattle in partnership with NFFTY. For a complete schedule of events, show times,
and ticket information, visit www.nffty.org.
NFFTY itself was 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 and Kyle Seago (’07) – a Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking student at the time. A growing list of sponsors and partners paved the way for this thirteenth annual event.
