Student films screened, awards announced at N.H. High School Short Film Festival

More than 150 people came out to watch this year’s best New Hampshire student films and to support young filmmakers from all over the state at the 2012 New Hampshire High School Short Film Festival on Saturday, June 16 at Sweeney Hall Auditorium at NHTI - Concord’s Community College.

Twenty-seven films representing fourteen high schools around New Hampshire were screened at the annual Festival, which is now in its fifth year. The films ranged from dramatic narratives and light-hearted comedies to a variety of public service announcements.

“The overall quality of the films is getting stronger every year, and with each Festival students are setting the bar higher,” said Matthew Newton, director of the New Hampshire Film & Television Office, which presents the event. “It’s also exciting to learn that some high schools are starting to include the Festival as part of their media production programs.”

The nearly 40 submitted films were judged by the Film & Television Office and a group of industry professionals. Top scoring films were screened at the Festival, where awards were presented at the conclusion of the program.

“Analogous,” a drama utilizing a split-screen technique to tell the story of two high school girls from very different backgrounds but with surprising similarities, received the Jury Award for Best in Show. The film was directed by Rochely Zapata and Callee Thompson of Pinkerton Academy in Derry. The Jury Award Runner-Up (2nd Place) was “Color My World,” a film about a boy living in a black and white world, and the magical pen that allows him to color his neighborhood. The film was directed by Ian Avery-Leaf and Chad Burns of Oyster River High School in Durham.

Jury Award Finalists were “The Champ” (Sam Waterhouse; Pinkerton Academy), “Dead Wrong” (Tyler Stanley; Nashua High School South) and “Melioration” (Alex Fauver, Charlotte Kennett; Kennett High School).

Other awards included the Audience Award for “Hidden” (Paul Cooper, Noah Levin and Aaron Small; Pinkerton Academy), Best Editing for “Killing Time” (Ethan Hogan and Dakota Lustick; Nashua High School North), Best Cinematography for “Cruisin’” (Andrew Dixon; Kingswood Regional) and the Public Service Announcement Award for “N.H. Food Bank” (Christine Brennan, Natallie Raper, Emily Rauseo and Meaghan Tosi; Bishop Brady High School).

The Jury Award and Runner-Up recipients will have their films screened at the New Hampshire Film Festival in Portsmouth in October and at the SNOB (Somewhat North of Boston) Film Festival in Concord in November.

The New Hampshire High School Short Film Festival is designed to foster and reward interest in film for future members of the industry by offering a venue for them to show their films to a live audience. More information is available at http://nhstudentfilm.com.