Desert Light Film Festival Celebrates Student Filmmakers

Desert Light Film Festival brought over 120 film students and teachers together on the NMSU Alamogordo campus on Friday, April 24.  “This is a special film festival designed for high school and middle school students,” said Joan Griggs festival director for Desert Light.   “We limit the competition to students from New Mexico.  This year the festival included film screenings, seminars, a reception and a grand finale out at the White Sands.  It was the most spectacular festival we have ever had.

See the Desert Light Film Festival Photostream on Flickr.

The Best of Festival award was given to Anjelica Apodaca from Mayfield High School for a documentary she produced about her school.  The Pro-Tech division at NMSUA, under the direction of Bryan Yancey, presented her with an IPOD and with a movie poster designed by James Scharmack.  This movie theater size poster celebrates her winning entry titled “Mayfield High School.”

The winning high school Music Video, “Chemical Bonding,” was produced by Andreas Grimes and Alphonso Holden, students in Kathy Wallis’ film class at Alamogordo High School.  The original rap music and lyrics made this film the clear audience favorite.  “They spent a great deal of time in the sound booth creating the music note-by-note, said Ms.Wallis. “This is the first time the AV class has produced original music and lyrics. This was our first completely original project.  AHS chemistry teacher Tom Hurdis wrote the original song, and then collaborated with these students for the finishing touches.”

“We are proud to have JC Penney Company Fund, Inc. as our official corporate sponsor, and we especially appreciate local Penneys manager Jesse Casto,” Griggs said.  “Penneys makes it possible to produce this festival and to give out cash prizes that in turn help students fund their filmmaking.   We had 63 films competing this year.  The films were submitted from six high schools including Alamogordo, Chaparral, Espanola Valley, Mayfield, Texico, and the Albuquerque based Public Academy for the Performing Arts.”  Middle schools participating included Sierra Middle School in Las Cruces and Jemez Valley Middle School.

Students began arriving Thursday night to attend the premiere of Michael Lennick’s new documentary, “The Land of Space and Time.”  Michael and his wife Shirley Gulliford then presented a Friday morning seminar on “Making a Documentary.”  The room was packed with interested students and community members.  Tickets to the premiere were provided by the executive producer, local philanthropists Jerry and Judy Johnson.

Emmy award winning screenwriter Kirk Ellis began his morning seminar by showing a clip from “The Dark Knight.”  Students each had the first four pages of the script, and learned to follow the screenplay while seeing it in action.  Mr. Ellis entertained and educated students, leaving everyone wanting to hear more.  He was available for questions and conversation during lunch and throughout the day.

Students also participated in other seminars, including Special Effects Makeup, Final Cut Pro editing program, Maya Animation, and Pyrotechnic Special Effects.  Instructors for these seminars came from NMSU Alamogordo and Dona Ana CC, and included Connie Breding, Sara Irving, Hiaying Wang, and Bill McCamey.

The Awards Ceremony Friday afternoon was preceded by a reception in the Rohovec Theater lobby.  “The Cloudcroft Light Opera Company was proud to sponsor the reception this year,” said Otero County Film Liaison and festival co-director Jan Wafful.  “CLOC looks for ways to support youth in the community and this year they found the funds to sponsor this film education event.”

The grand finale of the festival was held at the White Sands National Monument.  Education and Interpretation Ranger Kathy Denton, who wrote the rules and regulations for filming in the national parks system, arranged a perfect evening for the students.  She gave a “film briefing” to cover the advantages of working with the park system.  “Going through the process of applying for permits is to your advantage,” said Ranger Denton, “because the park rangers can provide valuable help, making the experience more efficient and less complicated.”  Following the briefing, students had time to catch the “magic” light during the sunset hour, providing them with footage for their next production.

At 8:30, the high school students from the Public Academy for the Performing Arts wowed the audience by projecting experimental film directly on the dunes.  “We’ve got the equipment and the speakers and the gorgeous films,” stated film teacher Su Hudson.  The exhibition “screen” for these films was three touching dunes.  Each artist used four projectors side-by-side, and introduced their own work much to the crowd’s delight.  The grand finale brought this festival evening to a dramatic and colorful close.

Desert Light Film Festival is a project directed by NMSU Alamogordo and the Otero County Film Office, a division of the Otero County Economic Development Council, and supported by a committee which includes, Jan Wafful, Joan Griggs, Jesse Casto, Bryan Yancey, Bruce Martin, Ranger Kathy Denton, and Rebecca Price representing OCEDC.

Festival Directors were Joan Griggs, Coordinator of Community Services, NMSU Alamogordo, and Jan Wafful, Otero County Film Liaison.

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