For the past decade, high school students from all over Idaho have gathered each April for the Kiwanis Teen Film Festival to preview short films made by themselves or their peers. The Kiwanis Teen Festival, hosted by The Idaho Falls Kiwanis Club, is celebrating its 10th year with the 2014 festival. What a decade it has been for both the Idaho Falls Kiwanis Club and the participants!
In 2003, Steve Parry, Festival Chair and past president of the Idaho Falls Kiwanis Club, was inspired to coordinate the film festival after he watched a short film made by his nephew. He realized that teenagers didn’t have a venue to display their cinematography talents and endeavors. He brought his idea to the Idaho Falls Kiwanis Club, where he and club members started to network and organize the first film festival in 2004.
For the first eight years, the festival was open to only high school students (grades 9-12) in Idaho and western Wyoming. However, last year organizers added a Junior Division for seventh and eighth grade students. This new category allows the participants to become oriented to filmmaking at a younger age and be involved in the festival for more years.
Each year the festival offers a Student Filmmaking Workshop on the day of the festival. Paul Jenkins, owner of Intermountain Film and Video Productions in Idaho Falls, has been the main instructor at the workshop. He also brings in other professionals in the film industry to help teach classes. The format of the workshops changes each year. Some of the topics have included storyboarding, camera operation and techniques, lighting and sound, editing, and costumes and makeup.
Only the winning films are shown at the film festival. However, during the Student Filmmaking Workshop, the participants are able to view all the entries and vote for the winner of the “Audience Choice” award.
Filmmaking has come a long way since the festival’s beginning. Each year the films are better and better, and attendees are amazed at the creativity of the filmmakers. This success can be attributed to the ease and accessibility of modern technology, the current fad of uploading videos to YouTube, and the increased offering of video production classes in schools.
The participants take their craft seriously. Some students submit films that they’ve built on from past winning films, which can be a complementary learning process. Others submit completely original stories. Students who have been involved in the festival become seasoned filmmakers by their junior or senior years. Organizers are excited to see how far participants have come year to year.
Entrants must follow a few rules when submitting one or more films: The festival is family friendly, which means all films must follow the same guidelines as a G or mild PG-rated film. Various time restrictions apply based on the six film categories. The entrants must primarily do all writing, filming and editing. Also, entrants must submit original work and not infringe on any copyright laws.
On the night of the festival, all award-winning films are awarded cash prizes. Awards include “Best of the Festival,” an award for the top film in each category; “Audience Choice”; “Best of the Junior Division”; and several Judges’ Choice awards. Generous businesses throughout Idaho Falls help sponsor the festival by giving cash donations, supplying the location for the workshops, donating lunch during the workshops, giving hotel discounts and gift cards, and printing the festival program.
Numerous teachers throughout the state have shown a great deal of support for the festival and have encouraged their students to participate. Some teachers make the film a class project while others encourage specific individuals who have shown interest in filmmaking to enter.
The film festival has had a lasting effect on many of its participants. Several students have gone on to pursue an education at various film schools. Most of these students have stated that the Kiwanis Teen Film Festival is where they first realized they wanted to work in the film industry and were greatly motivated to head in that direction after seeing their own film on the silver screen.
The 2014 Kiwanis Teen Film Festival will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, at the Colonial Theater in Idaho Falls. The Student Filmmaker’s Workshop will be the same day starting at 11 a.m. at the Idaho Falls Public Library. All students are invited to attend the workshop even if they don’t submit a film. Due to the generous donations made by the sponsors, the film festival is free to the public. Additional information, rules and forms, and past winning films can be found at the festival’s website: www.kiwanisteenfilmfestival.organd the Kiwanis Teen Film Festival Facebook page.
Dimick is the Executive Director of the Kiwanis Teen Film Festival. Article edited by Lisa Robins.