Recap of SCREEN Student Film Festival

February 24th, 2023

The Pacifica-produced SCREEN Student Film Festival is one of the largest student film festivals in Los Angeles, receiving submissions from high schoolers all throughout Southern California. Read about the screening and awards ceremony that took place last Friday at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica.

Fourteen impressive student films were chosen for Pacifica’s SCREEN Student Film Festival last Friday, including four produced by Pacifica students. The films ranged from documentary-style, to animated, to live-action short films. Some were humorous, such as ‘Hell of a Pie’ from Windward school, which featured a Western shoot-out using pies instead of guns. Others focused on important and relevant topics, like ‘Expectations’ from Chaminade College Preparatory, which provided visual and verbal commentary on beauty expectations from the perspective of an Asian girl. Still, others were both whimsical and thought-provoking, such as ‘Life of a Mayfly’ from Orange County School of the Arts, which depicted a day in the life of an animated mayfly. Regardless of content matter, all of the chosen films displayed the creativity and talent of their producers and participants!

Award-Winners
Six awards were presented at SCREEN, which were given to films outside of the Pacifica community. The award for Best Cinematography went to ‘Behind the Lens,’ directed by Youning Jiang and cinematography by Justin Shin from Orange County School of the Arts. This film tells the story of an encounter between two lonely teens– “one searching for a story and the other longing for a place to tell.” Best Directing was awarded to ‘Black Prayers Matter,’ directed by Angus Ebeling from Windward School. This documentary-style short follows the story of Venice, CA native Laddie Williams in her fight to protect one of the last black churches in the area.

Best Writing went to ‘Ovaryacting,’ by Jordan Held from Orange County School of the Arts, which hilariously depicts the journey of a young man making a purchase at a convenience store. Best Editing went to ‘Out of Focus’ by Charlotte Siegel from Windward School. This film creatively takes us inside the mind of a girl with ADHD as she sits in the waiting room of her therapist’s office.

Best of Fest was awarded to ‘My Sister in the Stars,’ which was directed, animated, and edited by Ian Kim from Harvard Westlake. This moving film told the life story of Lee Yong-soo, one of the last survivors of the WWII-era Comfort Women, a system of sexual slavery imposed by the Imperial Japanese Empire. Finally, the audience was able to text in their votes for the Fan Favorite award, which also went to ‘My Sister in the Stars.’

Pacifica Films
Four of our very own Pacifica students submitted films to be screened at the festival as well. While they were exempt from receiving most of the awards to avoid bias, it was a night of triumphant celebration for these students and all of their supporters.

The first Pacifica film, ‘Obscurity,’ was written, directed, and edited by Austin Micka and starred Pacifica seniors Xander Constantine, Gavin Kelly-Miller, and Siyane Said. The second Pacifica film was ‘Lonely Town,’ written and directed by Xander Constantine, with editing and cinematography by Sean Goedecke. Next was ‘Third Wheel,’ written and directed by Quinn Chryss-Connell. The final Pacifica film was ‘Free Parking,’ written and directed by Elijah Segal, with editing and cinematography by Sean Goedecke, starring Harper and Addison Mehl, and with music by William Reimers. Several more students were involved in the production of these films as well.

All four of the Pacifica films were extremely entertaining, and we are so proud of these students for their hard work and excellence.