Cobb Reporter

Lovett School issued the following announcement on Apr. 25. 

With the Oscars wrapping up the night before, Lovett students got a taste of some films by young filmmakers who could one day walk across the stage to pick up their golden statue. While on a much smaller scale, the Lovett High School Film Festival, started by Mr. Silverman in 2009, got students clapping, laughing, and freaked out by severed hands. 

This year, about 500 submissions came in from 54 different countries around the world. “This is our tenth year, and it’s a little less than we are used to getting,” Mr. Silverman told me in his room in the community center. “We’ve had as many as a thousand (submissions).” Entrants must be 13 to 19 years of age. 

Mr. Silverman said he “started it as a way to connect Lovett students who are interested in film to other students all around the world who have the same passion.” He wants to “feature the best filmmakers” in hopes of inspiring Lovett students to make films of their own.

“It’s an ongoing process,” Mr. Silverman explained. Ten films are selected out of 500, and Mr. Silverman watches every single one. “They start coming in during August, and the deadline is at the end of February.” 

Students in his advanced class help him watch and select the films. In the past, there has been a panel of professional judges, but this year they have changed it up a bit. The last couple of years it has been easier to handle the judging internally, and it made more sense for Mr. Silverman and some of his students to figure out which ones were “suitable.” 

Cooper Pope, a senior in Advanced Movie Making III taught by Mr. Silverman, told me how he and his class helped with the Film Festival. They sorted through some of the hundreds of self-submitted high school film entries representing  “a wide range of professionalism.” It took about two weeks to watch and pick the ones they liked the best.

Cooper said there were a lot of good films, but also a fair amount of bad ones. “Sometimes we would see a movie that was so bad we’d only get through 15 seconds of it and be like ‘yeah, we can't watch this.’”

However, Mr. Silverman and his class didn’t just pick a movie because they thought it was interesting. They looked at the cinematography, how good the camera work is, the sound quality, and more. “Sound quality was a big part of that,” Cooper noted. It was clear that “a lot of people didn't use microphones.” 

There were ten official selections and eleven awards. For the categories “Best Documentary,” “Best Animation,” “Best Music Video,” and “Best Narrative,” two awards are given each (one for a film from the United States and one international film). The categories “Best Short Short” and “Festival’s Director Award” have one winner each (check the end of this article for the names of the films shown and their awards). Unlike the rest of the awards, the “Audience Award” was voted on by the community after the assembly. It went to “A Pair Of,” a grim mystery about an old lady who lives in a cabin that has a dark secret and a strange collection. 

Normally, a film festival has more official selections than awards, but because of the decrease in time allotted for the festival (due to it being during community time), they narrowed it down to the ten award-winning films. 

Though Mr. Silverman did most of the planning, the film class gave their opinions on how the films should be shown and helped with the voting process. This was the first year that the Film Festival was an assembly for the entire student body. In the past, the festival was in the evening. “Unfortunately, the reality of the Lovett-life is it’s hard to get anybody to come out for anything,” said Mr. Silverman. In the past, he would spend around 6 months curating the Film Festival and only 20-30 students would attend it. “It was endlessly frustrating to me.”

Mr. Silverman is very excited the Film festival is finally getting the publicity it deserves and people will be able to enjoy it. Instead of trying to find time in their busy schedule, students and faculty were able to attend the Film festival during community time. “I love the idea that it might turn somebody on to the idea that ‘hey if they can do that, I can do that.’”

From a student's perspective, the film festival was a success. The films were interesting and diverse with a good mix of animations and live actors, and each film left you wanting more. 

The Film Festival isn't the only thing the class has been working on. They are currently making the “Senior Video” which is a comedy skit video that shows where the seniors will be in twenty years. For example, a senior has a leap year birthday, and his skit shows that “in twenty years, he will still be in the Lower School celebrating his 9th birthday.” Another skit involves all the smartest students in their class being a part of a “prison gang.” The Senior Video will be presented in one of the last chapels of the year. Though it's a tradition, this is the first year that an actual film class is making it.

Cooper is taking the course because he's always had an interest in making movies and “wanted to know how to do it for real.” Prior to taking Advanced Movie Making III, students must take the first two classes. The first class is watching movies and becoming familiar with cinematography, and the second class students write a script for a short film. Advanced Movie Making III “combines the two.” The class is very hands-on, and “right from the get go” the students start making movies.

Getting behind the camera has given him a new appreciation for details when making films. “You have to make sure every little detail is correct,” Cooper explained. “You can't have a basketball in one shot and in the next shot it's gone.” 

Not only has this class taught him how to make films, it’s also changed the way he views them. “I watch movies differently now,” he said. “I can understand the work that was put into a movie a lot better now.” 

Best Documentary (U.S.): “Home”

Best Documentary (Int’l): “3 Epistolary Films”

Best Animation (U.S.): “Grizz”

Best Animation (Int’l): “A Pair Of”

Best Narrative (U.S.): “Zero Hour”

Best Narrative (Int’l): “My Grandma Is A Vegetarian”

Best Short Short: “Saudade”

Festival Director’s Award: “The Hole”

Audience Award: “A Pair Of”

Original source can be found here. 

Source: Lovett School