New Hampshire Film Office to present High School Short Film Festival on May 16

High school filmmakers from around the state will once again showcase their works on the silver screen this May when the New Hampshire Film and Television Office presents its second annual New Hampshire High School Short Film Festival. New Hampshire Technical Institute’s Sweeney Hall Auditorium in Concord will again set the stage for the afternoon screening on Saturday, May 16, 2009, beginning at noon.

Thirty short films, from documentaries and dramas to comedies and experimental pieces, are slated to screen throughout the afternoon. Five films will be selected as award winners and shown before public audiences at this year’s New Hampshire Film Festival in Portsmouth and the Somewhat North of Boston Film Festival in Concord.

“The Festival gives high school students the opportunity to take their media projects out of the classroom setting and put them before a larger, public audience,” says Matthew Newton, director of the New Hampshire Film and Television Office and co-founder of the Short Film Festival. “The participating students also enjoy having the chance to watch each other’s work and network with filmmakers from different parts of the state.”

While the films themselves did not have to be part of a school project, in order to be eligible to compete, the filmmakers needed to currently be enrolled at a New Hampshire public or private high school (grades 9-12).

The Festival is free and open to the public. Information on the New Hampshire High School Short Film Festival and this year’s films can be found online at www.nhstudentfilm.com.