SGA-sponsored film festival to be judged by professional critics

The Student Government Association-organized Film Festival, a competition featuring student-made films, will occur on Friday.

Open to all grade levels, submissions were due on April 10. Students entering video submissions did not have to be taking a film class. The content of submissions was essentially unrestricted, and there were no requirements or quotas to fill for potential directors. However, in order to qualify for the festival, all submissions had to follow IB and FCPS guidelines and the code of conduct.

“My brother had a soccer tournament and I brought my camera and filmed whatever I could,” freshman Adina Anand said. “I feel really accomplished about my film.”

Submitting a video for FilmFest is a time-consuming project that teaches team-building and responsibility between group members.

During the production of the film many problems could arise, ranging from technical difficulties to sudden artistic changes.

A panel of judges from the Washington Area Film Critics Association will judge all video submissions. WAFCA is assessing the overall quality of the individual films, considering editing, script, cinematography and sound mixing.

There will be two awards given: one called the Critic’s Choice award which is determined by the WAFCA judges and another called the Audience’s Choice award which will be the audience’s favorite choice, determined on the day of the festival.

Noodles and Company is the Festival’s main sponsor and is providing a free bowl of noodles once a month for a whole year for the films that win the Audience and Critics Choice awards.

Other films could also receive a range of assorted minor prizes including gift cards and movie vouchers. Everyone who submits any work will automatically receive a Noodles and Company gift card for participation.

“The SGA is really excited and really passionate about organizing this film competition,” IB co-coordinator Matthew Axelrod said.