AHS IB Film classes presented the annual Film Festival on May 23.

A total of 29 short films were presented at the festival. The student-made movies showcased included a range of genres including documentaries, comedies, animations and more.

The winners of the total of 10 awards that were given at the festival were determined by a panel of five judges, with two awards, Audience Choice and Audience Choice Runner-Up being selected by audience members through a vote.

The panel of judges included Principal Tim Thomas, Math teacher Michael Mazzarella, English teachers Sasha Duran and McClain Herman and 2012 AHS graduate Andy Riddle.

“I was impressed with a lot of the films,” Mazzarella said. “I liked the balance of documentaries and actual films and the different themes throughout.”

IB Film students were able to put together a variety of filmmaking skills acquired throughout the school year in order to craft their short movies.

“I really enjoyed being in the IB Film class this year,” junior Kyle Dalsimer said. “I got to see a lot of classic films and learn about filmmaking as a whole.”   

With both junior and senior classes presenting films at the festival, it is typical for there to be a competition over which class wins the most awards.

This year, the senior class won all awards with the exception of one, Best Actor.

The Best Actor award was presented to sophomore Raffi Krikorian in the film Star, which is about an untalented young man with aspirations to become a celebrity.

“It was really cool for an actor in my film to win an award,” Dalsimer said. “I was able to write him the lines and direct him in a way that his full potential for the character would be released.”  

The Best Actress award went to senior Anna Vogus, who was featured in a documentary style film.

The only film to win multiple awards was Dash of Freedom, which depicted a stranded soldier in the Vietnam War attempting to escape.

Dash of Freedom won one of the two awards determined by the audience, Audience Choice. The runner-up for the category was A Chef’s Heart, about a chef seeking acceptance into a prestigious culinary school.

Dash of Freedom also came away with the Jury Prize Runner-Up award on back to back announcements.

“The filmmaking making process for it was long but fun,” senior Everett Stenberg said. “We had a lot of spontaneous ideas that turned out to work really well with the pre-planned script that we had.”

The Jury Prize award was given to the film Karma which demonstrated the importance of individuals obeying their parents or otherwise be at the behest of karma.

The documentary Dreamer, about senior Nicolle Uria’s experience as a DACA recipient, was selected for the Best Documentary award.

Dreamer was also selected for presentation at the VHSL Film Festival on June 2.

For more on this documentary click here.

Other winners included A Senior Tribute for Best Editing and Hope for Best Cinematography.

The heartwarming short film Rise, a narrative about a young boy who struggles with dyslexia, was awarded Best Screenplay.

“I felt really accomplished winning an award for a film because my production group and I put a great deal of effort into making it,” senior Mariam Mohamed said. “Winning an award means a lot because I will keep the trophy in my college dorm room and see it forever.”