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Nine students from Sacred Heart Greenwich were chosen to screen their short films as part of the 12th annual All-American High School Film Festival. Their movies were picked from thousands of submissions to make it to the finals.
Their movies will be shown at AMC Empire 25 Theatre in Times Square on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 18-20 as part of the prestigious festival.
Click here for ticket information.
Eleven of their submissions will be shown in the comedy, experimental, sports, PSA, and documentary categories. Many tackle topics most wouldn't expect to see from filmmakers so young such as suicide, terminal illness, and school shootings.
Student Claire McMonagle documented her mother's journey with Hodgkin's lymphoma in her film "Three Point Triangle." McMonagle told Daily Voice she hopes her film can unite people around fighting such an awful disease.
Mia Ritossa's "Taya" examines the life of Taya Senerchia, whose father lived and died with ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. He was one of the inspirations for the Ice Bucket Challenge several years ago. The film doesn't dwell on the negative but focuses on how tragedy can form a community.
Laurie Starke's "Just One Click" is a haunting minute-long short showing empty classrooms juxtaposed against news reports of the Parkland high school shooting in 2018.
The students worked on their submission from concept to completion. That means handling all aspects of production.
Many of the students noted struggling with the technical aspects of filmmaking like lighting, sound-mixing, and editing, but they are years ahead of the previous generation of up-and-coming filmmakers, said Ellyn Stewart, Director of Media Studies at Sacred Heart Greenwich, Design, and Innovation and filmmaker teacher.
"Since many of today's students have grown up making TikToks or YouTube videos, they have a seemingly innate visual sensibility," she said. "Even students in the freshman class enter the program with a clear vision for their work and an understanding of editing and storytelling structure."
Sacred Heart senior Lila Caruso, who had three films selected for the finals competition, could be the best example of that sentiment. Her shorts "Infrared," "Dual Reality" and "If My Body Could Speak" are visually unique in how they play inside the space of light, shadow, and movement.
She told Daily Voice she learned much of her technique at Sacred Heart Greenwich.
The students of the Sacred Heart Film program are experts in all parts of media production. In the prerequisite class entitled Intro To Filmmaking, students learn the basics of how to use a camera, color grading, and vital tips to tell stories in the most authentic and impactful ways. These tools enable students to be proficient in every step of filmmaking, allowing them to apply their skills in advanced classes in high school and beyond.
And many of them do go beyond. A third of the curriculum's graduates go into media, communications, and filmmaking, teacher Stewart noted.
"The school's alumnae have worked at Netflix, HBO, "Late Night with Seth Meyers," Sesame Workshop, Disney, and NBC News," Stewart added.
Winners of the All-American High School Film Festival can win more than $500,000 in prizes and scholarships, along with equipment and aid to help them in their filmmaking futures.
Click here for more information on all of the students chosen for the prestigious and their films.
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