Ten shorts by students in the Ballard High School Video Production Program have been identified as "works of merit" by the Young People's Film Festival, a competitive, six-state regional festival coordinated by the Northwest Film Center in Portland. A jury of filmmakers and educators selected 30 works for this distinction from over 150 entries in the Teen Division (grades 9 - 12).

The ten Ballard works that made the list include visual stories, short digital films, and a music video. Two of them are the first narrative works by students in the intro class of the Video Production Program.

As we announced last month, Nate Sawtell, Dylan Spence, and Louis Weissman have been named winners in the Teen Division of the 35th Annual Young People's Film Festival for their digital film Safe at Last. The Festival Winners of the Teen Division will be screened this Saturday, November 19 at 1 p.m. at the Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium (1219 SW Park, Portland, Oregon). Following the screening, there will be a reception and panel discussion for winners and audience members to meet this year's festival jurors. The event is free, and the public is welcome to attend.

The winner and several "works of merit" will be screened on a program of new works by BHS video students on Thursday, February 9 or Friday, February 10 at 7 pm in the BHS auditorium. Admission is $10, or $7 for students with an activity pass. All proceeds benefit students in the Video Production Program.

For more information on the Ballard High School Video Production Program, visit http://www.bhsvideo.blogspot.com.

Young People's Film Festival "Works of Merit" by BHS Video students:

"At First Sight" by Vann Fulfs, Alex James, Taylor Martin & John Paul Umbao

"Checkmate" by Mia Caron, John Christensen & Alex Johnston

"Cogs" by Brendan Inkley, Cybele Olsen & Nadia Komen

"The Craft" by Walker Evans, Elise Neroutsos, Sam Weller & James Vitz-Wong

"The Number" by Alex Guettler, Helen Miller & Ana Krafchick

"Old House" by Sam Weller, Walker Evans & Kirsten Zeller

"Reverie Portal" by Ashleigh Klemetson, David Moore, Blair Scott & Kenji Takada

"To-do" by Mia Montagna, Elise Neroutsos & Ivy Vance

"Truth or Dare" by Liam Halvorsen, Joe Jacobson, Dylan Miller & Ariel Noltimier

"Wanna Go Out" by Walker Evans, Sam Weller & Sheridan Koehler