Entries for the 2024 New Age Film Festival—organized in town by the New Canaan High School Film Club—are due Friday, April 26, with an awards night that will follow on May 22.
We put some questions to NCHS film teacher/advisor Jennifer Sinski ahead of the festival, whose entries will be screened and judged by a panel of industry professionals.
Here’s our exchange.
***
New Canaanite: What is the New Age Film Festival?
Jennifer Sinski
Jennifer Sinski: The New Age Film Festival is an annual event, organized by the NCHS Film Club of New Canaan High School, where students from our schools and surrounding schools are invited to submit and share their film projects with a larger audience. Once all films have been submitted, they are posted on the New Age Film Festival website where the community can watch, share and vote on their favorites. The NCHS Film Club also hosts a panel of jurors who adjudicate the films in each category using a guiding rubric and providing category-specific awards to standout projects. The final part of our festival will be held on the evening of May 22nd where we invite the filmmakers, families and supporters to come together to see a fun, film-packed, awards presentation hosted by the NCHS film club.
Talk about what classes or programs are available for students interested in exploring or pursuing filmmaking.
Past New Age Film Festival awards night.
New Canaan High School offers a four-year path for students who are interested in exploring or pursuing filmmaking. The course offerings are a series of Visual and Performing Arts electives that will build on a student’s range of skills in the areas of film study, production, cinematography, video-editing, and project-based portfolio building. NCHS Film offers a recently adopted Early College Experience elective course through the University of Connecticut for Film & Video Editing. Students can also get involved with the after-school film club that meets weekly to talk, produce and watch anything in the area of film that interests the group members
How do NCHS students enter this film festival?
Set-up for New Age Film Festival awards night.
Students are encouraged to carefully read our guidelines that are found on our website. They can then complete an online form where they share their video files and details about their project. That’s it! It’s important to know that we share this opportunity with Saxe Middle School and surrounding high schools, many of which participate each year! Our website: https://ncps.digication.com/newagefilmfestival/home-1.
New Canaan High School has some hugely talented artists. We see it in theatrical productions, art exhibitions and other areas. As a film teacher, what do you see in our high school students and their work?
New Age Film Festival awards
I see students who want to follow a passion that’s been fostered from a young age. Whether it’s in film, art, music or theatre, our students are given the time and the space to follow this passion, build their skills and take creative risks!
What else, if anything, would you like to tell our readers about the 2024 New Age Film Festival?
Please take some time out to watch the films once they’ve been published. Our students work incredibly hard and are taking a huge creative risk by participating in our festival. Giving your time to watch and vote is an important part of the process. This is also the 10th year, which marks a decade of New Age Film Festivals. We are excited to welcome back two NCHS Alumni in our panel of jurors, Fiona Stevens and James Singer, who are currently working in film production!