Student Film Awards: And the Winner Is....

When it comes to making movie magic, students at Bethel High School are magicians.

On May 11, more than two dozen students from Bethel High School participated in the Connecticut Student Film Festival at the Palace Theater in Waterbury. Among the award winners that night was Bethel junior, Lily Ziegler, whose film “A Mystery” earned her the top award for Outstanding Fictional Short in the 84-Hour Film Challenge portion of the festival.

“Winning the Fictional Short Category at the Connecticut Student Film festival is literally a dream come true,” said Ziegler who is 17. She added, “I sound like such a film nerd, but it makes me so excited to go to film school.”

The Connecticut Student Film Festival is an annual festival that showcases the talents of student filmmakers from across the state. The Bethel students who participated in the event are part of The Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences at Bethel High School, which is known as the Academy for short. It's a unique program at Bethel High School that combines the study of science and technology and helps train students for future careers in film and other industries.

In addition to Ziegler's award winning film, several other Bethel student films were nominated and shown at the Film Festival. These films included “In Love, and War” (a film made by 9th graders Justin Fargiano, Ellen Dennerlein, Christine Jones, and Paul Tyra) and “Fate Lies” (a 10th grade entry from Chris Iossa, Danny Tucciarone, Ryan Lampe and Ricardo Pena).

Also, the film “The Tet Offensive – A Very Intense Thing” was nominated in the Outstanding History Short category of the festival. This film documents the story of Vietnam War veteran Major Robert C. Yost USMC-Ret. The film was directed by Ziegler and Katie Book and was dedicated to Yost, who is Ziegler's grandfather.

Karen Fildes is the Department Chair of Applied Studies and The Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences Program Coordinator. She said that the Connecticut Student Film Festival is a required event for all the students who are part of The Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences program.

“Built in to the class are projects that lead to submissions in multiple categories - for example, the 10th grade class produced a documentary,” Fildes said. “However, the category in which we did the best is a voluntary project - the 84-Hour Film Challenge. This competition takes place over a weekend and challenges students to complete a four-minute film in 84-hours using very specific criteria.”

Fildes added, “I am thrilled that so many students participated in this challenging activity and even more thrilled that three of them made the cut to be shown at the Festival.”

Ziegler's film is a mystery. The film is shot in a classic black and white film noir style but its modern references abound – there are modern cell phones and the action centers around a mystery prom proposal.

Asked what the biggest challenge making the film was, Ziegler answered, “aside from the fact that I had to storyboard, film, write, direct, produce, edit and upload a video in less than 84 hours, I was crazy enough to do the entire film by myself.” She added, “There are even scenes where my [character's] mother hands me an envelope, that was my arm. My sister and a friend from school helped out in a few scenes but for the most part it was all done by me. I got very creative with tripods and lighting. Also, that weekend was one of the busiest weekends of my life considering I had the film challenge, a softball tournament, and work.”

Ziegler hopes to pursue a career in film. She has been accepted into the 2012 Connecticut Film Industry Training Program at Quinnipiac University which begins in June.

Ziegler and the rest of the students who are part of the Academy program at Bethel High School have a few more movie magic tricks up their sleeves before summer break. Next Saturday, May 19, the students in the program will show off their yearlong science and technology projects at the Connecticut Student Innovation Exposition which is held in Hartford at the XL Center.

Fildes said next Saturday's event “is the culminating event for the students in the Academy. All throughout this year each class has been working on a science based research project communicated through multiple modes of technology including film, animation, web sites, etc. that they will present to a panel of judges at the Expo.” Fildes added, “it is a very exciting event for the students and they look forward to this event the whole year.”

To see more films by students, click here.