Paul Revere Invites Community to Virtually Attend Upcoming Film Festival

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

Paul Revere Charter Middle School will host its seventh annual Film Festival on Friday, April 9, starting at 6 p.m., and, for second year in a row, it will be virtual.

“Since school has remained virtual this entire year, we really felt like the festival was more important than ever,” Co-Chair Sage Grandy shared with the Palisadian-Post. “It has been a great way for kids to express their creativity during this time and another way to stay connected to Revere.

The 2021 iteration of the festival will feature about 40 films in categories like Live Action, Animation, Public Service Announcement, Documentary and Music Video. Submissions were open to all Revere students.

The festival was launched seven years ago by Palisadian Lisa Robins with the idea of offering students a creative outlet.

“This film festival is so important because it really embodies the spirit of Paul Revere Middle School,” Grandy shared. “It’s kids from all over the city expressing their unique voices. The students are so supportive and inspired by one another. It really is incredible to witness.”

In 2020, event organizers had to push the date of the screening to June as pandemic-related restrictions remained in place and campus was closed­—but the evening was dubbed a “huge success” by Co-Chair Debbie Sachs.

“Last time I checked, I think we were close to 750 views,” Sachs said in an interview last year. Each winner took home a trophy, with all participants receiving a portable charger.

Contest entries this year will be reviewed by several judges with ties to the entertainment industry, including Shabrayia Cleaver (a production manager at DreamWorks Animation), Fred Coury (an award-winning composer for both film and television) and Jeff Judah (a writer/producer/director for film and television).

Other judges are Managing Partner/Executive Producer of Bob Industries T.K. Knowles, Skydance Animation Script Coordinator Deniese Lara and Eli Nilsen, a Norwegian born TV and film editor who currently works on the ABC show “Station 19.” Pamela Thomas, two-time Emmy-winning commercial director and partner at Community Films, and Frank Wolf, who has more than 40 years of experience score and song recording and mixing for film, television and soundtracks, will also judge.

Films will be screened and winners in first, second and third place in their respective categories will be announced on Friday.

“Once again, Revere students have really shown their perseverance and resilience through this year and we are so proud of all our filmmakers,” Grandy concluded.

For more information, including a link to tune in, visit paulreverems.com/domain/264.