Paul Revere Student Film Festival Winners Revealed

By LILY TINOCO | Reporter

Paul Revere Charter Middle School hosted its sixth annual Student Film Festival on Friday, June 5—and due to schools being closed through the end of the 2019-20 school year, the festival was screened virtually on YouTube.

“The festival was a huge success, better than we expected,” said Debbie Sachs, one of the organizers of the film festival, to the Palisadian-Post. “Last time I checked, I think we were close to 750 views.”

Sachs said the link will remain up until Sunday, June 14, in case anyone missed the screening.

All Revere students were welcome to submit a film for consideration under a range of film categories, including commercial, live action short film, music video, public service announcement, animation and horror.

Professionals from the entertainment industry were invited to watch and score the films, determining third, second and first place winners in each category.

This year’s judges were David Booth Gardner, Fred Coury, Susan Fitzer, Sharre Jacoby, Jeff Judah, Thomas Mizer, Denisse Oliva, James Ryan, Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin.

The 2020 winners for best documentary are Akshay Vishwanath’s “Travel To India” in third place, Ashley Gonzalez’s “Skateboarding” in second place and Elodie Chien’s “Help, Save, Adopt” in first.

For best commercial, “A Companion For Life” by Giada Musumeci earned second place, and “Make Life a Little More S’Well” by Hannah Fong, Kiley Globerman, Misha Keyvanfar and Chloe Suh rang in first.

In the best live action category, Ben Barnett and Asher Moore’s “Duped!” placed third, “The Dollar” by Jonah Sachs placed second, and “Late” by Emmett Whitaker and Liam Saven placed first.

For best music video, “Brown Skin Girls” by Brooklyn Taylor, Leilah Gray and Simone Walker placed in third, “J N Mix” by Jonah Bahari and Noa Zeidler placed second, and “Murphy’s Law” by Ella White and Jonah Sachs took home first.

In best public service announcement, “Smoking Kills” by Benjamin Yera placed third, “Soles4Good” by Leena Adeli and Katie Lee placed second, and “History’s Oldest Hatred” by Kayla Ring and Audrey Smith placed first.

For best animation, “The Yellow Fish” by Aria Netanel and Ava Dixon placed third and “A Fading Dream” by Leela Rao placed second. There was a tie for first place, given to “Fish Adventure” by Auden Lachina and “The Arcade” by Carter Yean and Vigyan Sahai.

For best horror film, there was an honorable mention to Sam Salser-Meyers’ “The Nonexistent.” In third place was Lava Flash’s  “An Exam,” Maya Tabachnikoff and Eva Herndon’s “TAG” took second place, and Sammy and Ella White’s “Stuffed” took home first.

Winners will receive trophies and everyone who participated will receive a portable charger as soon as it’s safe, Sachs said at the end of the program.