FTC’s LI72 Film Festival gives high school filmmakers a creative outlet
Registration is open until Wednesday, October 7th
By Clarissa Biener
The LI72 Film Festival is returning to Five Towns College. Open to all high school students, the film festival challenges participants to create a short film based on specific criteria within a 72-hour time frame.
Last year’s festival was the first time in several years that Five Towns hosted the event, with public and private high schools from across Long Island represented. FTC Professor Mike Peters believes last year’s success stemmed from FTC’s outreach to high schools that value their Film & TV programs. “I think that schools that encourage the arts are great and Five Towns likes to foster relationships with those schools,” said Peters. “I hope to shed light on Five Towns College’s fantastic Film & TV program and inform young filmmakers of the kind of education they can get here.”
Aspiring filmmakers will have 72 hours to write, shoot, and edit a short film that features an assigned character name, prop, line of dialogue, and genre, all of which will be determined at the Kick-Off Meeting on Friday, October 9th. Last year’s films all had unique ways to include a hairbrush prop and a character named Brody Bruce. Students can enter solo or in groups of up to five. Any equipment can be used to produce the films- even a cell phone!
Click here for the full criteria.
After the criteria is set at the Kick Off meeting, students will have until Monday, October 12th to submit their films. With only 72 hours, working together is crucial for each group to complete their submission. “The contest encourages collaboration and gives young students material they can use in other festivals or to beef up their growing portfolio of art work,” said Peters.
The Awards Ceremony will occur immediately after a screening of all the films on Saturday, October 17th. Some of last year’s winners were A Really S****y Date (Best Overall, Best Directing- Half Hollow Hills High School-West), Moving On (Best Writing-Long Beach High School), and My AI Human (Best Editing-Sachem North High School).
Each team member who wins in the Best Overall category will earn a 50 dollar B&H gift card as well as a swag bag from Canon.
Professor Boyle, Interim Chair of the Film and TV Department, looks forward to seeing the submissions at this year’s festival. “The LI72 is a tremendous opportunity for high school students to stand out from their peers,” said Boyle. “We are so excited to see the students’ creativity and be a place for them to take their filmmaking skills to the next level.”
The deadline to register is October 7th. Sign up here!
