FLINT—JULY 25, 2016—Forty Flint area young filmmakers and their work will be recognized July 28 at the Flint Youth Film Festival (FYFF), hosted and co-sponsored by the Flint Institute of Arts.
The festival begins at 5:30 p.m. with the red carpet stroll and paparazzi, the award ceremony at 6 p.m., and an afterglow with refreshments. The event is free and open to the public.
Twenty films by 16 directors ranging in age from 14 to 25 are being judged by professional filmmakers locally and from around the country. Judging in the categories of middle school, high school, and college/young adult, as well as non-fiction and fiction will determine those films that will be honored with cash prizes. Special awards also will be made to films for outstanding achievement in cinematic storytelling and authenticity and humane treatment of a subject.
According to Festival Director Rodney W. Brown, judges are evaluating entries for storytelling, overall production quality, originality, persuasive point of view, emotional impact, technical proficiency, and risk-taking.
All of the films will be exhibited at the Flint Institute of Arts for 30 days in its Video Gallery following the festival.
“The exhibition is the best prize of all for these filmmakers,” Donna Ullrich, Flint Youth Media Project director said. “The exhibition is resume building for their preparation to enter college or media career fields.”
The Flint Youth Media Project is program of the University of Michigan-Flint Communication Department. The Project also sponsors The Archway Blog, a website for young artists across genres to showcase their work and talent.
No special filmmaking equipment was required to enter the festival, according to Ullrich. Participants were encouraged to use smartphones, digital cameras, tablets and computers to film and edit their productions. “Whatever they had available. It was about how create they could be both technically and in terms of content,” she said.
Entries came from school media programs as well as individuals, Ullrich said.
The FYFF also sponsored nine film making workshops during the 2015-2016 school year for interested students and community residents. The workshops covered everything from pre- and post production to lighting, camera work, sound, animation, editing, direction and script writing.
All of the entries to the festival will also be available for viewing after July 28 at the festival website: flintyouthfilmfestival.com.
Additional sponsors are Mott Community College and the Flint Institute of Arts. Community partners are iMichigan Productions and Mophead Artistics. The Ruth Mott Foundation and the Michigan Council of Arts and Cultural Affairs provided funding.
The Archway Blog has been funded by the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.
