Student Films From The East End

After having watched “One in a Billion,” local television executive director Seth Redlus gives props to its 18-year-old filmmaker Zheng Wang.

Mr. Redlus, who works at LTV in Wainscott and is returning for his fifth year as a judge for the “Student Film Contest Awards Ceremony and Screening,” even found himself considering how he could execute the film here in the United States. Mr. Wang, who was born in China, shot the film in his homeland last summer.

“‘One in a Billion’ was a fascinating look into the perceptions and interpretations of the Chinese culture toward education and allowed me to more clearly understand one of the challenges within that society,” Mr. Redlus wrote of the film in an email last week. “I give the filmmaker a lot of credit for both taking the time and making the effort to pull that piece together.”

Mr. Redlus’s four fellow judges—Marion Weiss, Holly Herrick, Dennis Fabiszak and Anne Chaisson—for Guild Hall’s ninth annual “Student Film Contest” agreed.

Mr. Wang, a Ross School senior who has attended the school for the past two years, beat out eight other films in the contest’s high school category and took first place. That prize secures him a screening of his 22-minute movie not only at the John Drew Theater at Guild Hall in East Hampton on Sunday, April 15, along with the other student works, but his film, which was shot with a handheld digital Sony camera, will be joined by nine other winning films in the shorts program of the Hamptons International Film Festival in October.

The 19 total contest submissions from Ross School, East Hampton High School and Springs Public Schools were divided into three age categories—second through fourth grades, fifth through eighth grades, and high school—and then left in the hands of the judges.

Mr. Wang heard the verdict on Wednesday afternoon, and he’s still a bit unsure what to make of it, he said.

“I didn’t think that my movie could actually win something,” Mr. Wang said during a telephone interview last week. “And then my teacher told me that the movie is not going to show at the Hamptons International Film Festival as a student film, but as a filmmaker’s film. I was quite shocked. I was like, ‘Wait, is that really me?’”

Springs Elementary School third-grader Kevin Chabla echoed a similar sentiment. He never thought his film—which he made with classmate Brody Eggert and shot with handheld Sony mini DV cameras—on the art behind origami could take first prize.

“We thought the film would be hopeless,” the 8-year-old admitted during an interview at his school last week. “We both did. We thought it would be hopeless to even try to submit it. Well, it needed lots of work, for one reason, and I insulted Brody’s thumbs.”

“He said my thumbs are really big,” Brody said, seated next to his friend.

“You kind of needed to have small fingers to do origami,” Kevin explained.

For the film, Brody and his classmates interviewed Kevin on the proper technique behind making different origami models, such as the crane or a rocket, and even a Christmas tree, and Darth Vader from “Star Wars”—a model that Kevin said he invented.

The filmmakers also inserted fun facts about origami throughout the video. For instance, the origin of origami is (the bird) the crane. During their research, the boys learned even more about the ancient paper-folding technique.

“The reason I decided to work on this film with Kevin is because I have a friend in Japan and I wanted to learn more about his culture,” Brody said.

Over the years, the Springs Public School films have always been standouts to Ms. Weiss, an art critic who is now in her third year as a judge. In fact, the school swept the competition this year, winning all first, second and third place prizes in the two youngest age brackets.

“They are always adorable, yet simple,” Ms. Weiss wrote of the Springs Public School films in an email.

Most of the student movies are filmed as documentaries, explained Jennifer Brondo, general manager of the John Drew Theater. The final first-place-winning film on Silly Bandz—trendy, colorful rubber bands worn as bracelets—from Springs Elementary School fifth-graders Marissa Harry, Jasmine Pratt and Annelise Mendelman—is no exception.

The trio talked to nearly 20 students about their opinions on the popular accessories and filmed their comments with flip cameras. The students in every category edited their own films.

“We used animation in the beginning of our movie,” 10-year-old Annelise explained. “We took a bunch of Silly Bandz on a piece of paper and moved them out until they spelled, ‘Silly Bandz,’ and used a special camera where you take pictures, link them all together until they make a movie. That was my favorite part.”

Arming young children with cameras and sending them out into their schools can be empowering, explained Springs School teacher Sue O’Connor, who entered her students’ films into the Guild Hall contest.

“I’m thrilled we won all six prizes, and I’m especially thrilled in this time of economic cutback that the school still allows the children to have this kind of activity during their lunch and recess periods,” Ms. O’Connor said during an interview at the school last week. “It’s on their own time. And they interview kids all over the school. It’s not just about the filmers. It’s a whole school event.”

The final products are a chance for local audiences to see what students—and their imaginations—are up to, Ms. Brondo said.

“The creativity that they show is amazing,” she said during a telephone interview last week. “I think people would be surprised how good the films really are, even the ones in the younger grades. And the high school films are exciting because those are obviously students who are possibly interested in doing this more in the future.”

Mr. Wang said he plans on staying in America to attend college at the University of Michigan to study business. But that doesn’t mean film is on the back burner. It’s been a part of his life since age 12.

He’s got big plans for his latest project, he said.

“My movie is mostly for American audiences and I just want my American friends, and other Americans, to understand why does China have such a strict and competitive learning environment, and I hope people can watch it and get some ideas,” he said. “It might be important for American education.”

He chuckled. “Maybe.”

The John Drew Theater will present Guild Hall’s annual “Student Film Contest Awards Ceremony and Screening” on Sunday, April 15, at 5 p.m. at the East Hampton theater. The winning films will be shown and awards will be presented. Admission is free. For more information, call 324-0806 or visit guildhall.org.