The annual IB film festival gave IB film students the opportunity to showcase everything they’ve worked on this school year.

Most of the awards were taken home by seniors like Steve Aderton who was the star of the night going home with 3 of the awards. Aderton humbly won best actor, best cinematography and the overall jury prize.

“It’s important to remember that awards are subjective. Different people will appreciate different aspects of a film. I’m glad I won but I’m mostly just happy to have the chance to share my team’s hard work,” Aderton said. “The festival is an opportunity for the students to display their hard work! It’s a great experience both as a filmmaker and a member of the audience.”

Aderton wasn’t the only one who got to exhibit their piece. Different film styles were shown throughout the night such as short film, comedy, documentary and experimental.

Another senior, Ricky Lam, won the audience choice award, best editing and was runner-up for the jury grand prize with his jumanji-themed comedy “Cards Against.”

“Winning was actually really surprising. I kind of expected Steve and the others to win because of their quality films. I was scared how people would react to my film because it was crazy, so it was awesome getting awards for it,” Lam said.

Best documentary was won by juniors Ashley Britton, Sarah Deible, Luke Daggle and Hibo Ali for their film titled “Aca-Atoms.” Their film was about the acapella group, Empyrean Heights, composed of the AHS students, juniors Leif Jomuad, Jamiah Harrison, Aldwin Pagulayan, Tabitha Barnes, Shawn de Lopez and sophomore Ben Betts. The film went in depth to how the group was formed, their journey together and the experiences they shared.

The other awards won were by senior Mia Cook for best actress and her film, “Action”, won best screenplay.

“Action” followed two battling spies through different dimensions and starred seniors Saraih Munoz and Shannon Lewandowski who also wrote, edited and directed it alongside senior Sean Barlow.

The night was split into two sections of creative expression with a 15 minute intermission. Even without winning awards, all the films were worth watching. About 100 friends and family members came out to support the students and hopefully next year the turnout will be just as good.