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BC Film Fest Inspires
Expect big things from Shawnigan’s film programs in the future after an inspiring trip to the BC Student Film Festival in Vancouver last weekend. Although the students were nominated for four awards, they didn’t bring home any hardware, but they did find a lot of motivation and enthusiasm for next year.
“The cool thing was that, on the ferry back, the juniors were buzzing,” film instructor Mr. Aren Goodman said. “They saw a variety of films over there, and they were revved up and ready to go for next year.”
The BC Student Film Festival is hosted annually by the Vancouver Film School and SFU School for the Contemporary Arts. The 10 students from Shawnigan who attended were a mix of curricular and 360 (arts and activities) students, some of whom have been in film for several years, and some of whom are brand new this year. The group was made up of two boys and eight girls, which Mr. Goodman said was a refreshing change for a program that has been largely male-dominated in the recent past.
The students took the ferry to the Mainland last Thursday and stayed in a hotel. Up early the next morning, they walked to the Gastown neighbourhood where the workshops took place. The sessions covered a wide range of film-related topics, including visual storytelling, tattoo makeup, sound design, and visual effects. Mr. Goodman was impressed with the calibre of the presenters.
“The instructors were really good this year,” he said. “The students had fun, learned a lot, and were really engaged.”
On Saturday morning, the students attended one big workshop on directing actors. When they returned from lunch, it was time for the awards and screenings of the winning films. The films this year were extremely competitive, Mr. Goodman noted, and inspired Shawnigan’s up-and-coming filmmakers.
“We’ll have a strong team of kids next year, and they learned a lot and had fun at the festival,” he said. “The big takeaway is how it motivated the kids more.”
Grade 9 student Clara D. was among those who were excited by what she learned and took away from the film festival.
“The BCSFF was very inspiring,” she commented. “It was amazing to get the opportunity to be able to see and experience the film world beyond Shawnigan. Watching films that other schools have made has inspired me to make more professional, even better films.”
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Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful Pacific Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
