Students showcase their short films during SBIFF closing competition
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Santa Barbara’s best and brightest aspiring film-makers brought their best to the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
On Saturday, local high school and college students showed off their creations at the Arlington Theatre during the 10-10-10 competition.
The five best high school and college film students premiered their shorts and competed in two categories at both the high school and college level.
Charley Goldstein is a senior at Santa Barbara High School and had her film in the competition. She said, “The past two years we’ve been focusing on film and I just realized that it was my biggest passion and that I want to be a filmmaker. So this competition felt like the perfect opportunity to use my skills and start growing as a filmmaker.”
It was prom meets the Oscars while living the fantasy of seeing their movies in the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
This was the first year Santa Barbara High School junior Grace Miller entered in the competition. She said, “It’s seriously just a dream come true. And I’m so glad with the collaboration between Henry Haber and I, the director, because I’m really proud of what we made. And it’s really going to be surreal to see our work on the big screen.”
The goal for these young film-makers is to follow the footsteps of 10-10-10 alums like Julia Kupiec, she used the film she directed her senior year to get into New York University launching her career in New York City.
“And so if that hadn’t happened I mean I’m sure I would have found some way to end up in the film industry," said Kupiec. "But maybe it would have taken a little bit longer. But 10-10-10 just gave me this straight through avenue to be able to do what I want to do.”
For the winners, it was the cherry on top.
Kana Kozlowski is a college student and won one of the college awards. She said, “Honestly it means everything. It gives you a boost of confidence. It makes you feel like pursuing such a crazy dream that not many people have is possible.”
It’s that dream that these aspiring filmmakers are striving for. Both Miller and Goldstein are hoping to get into film school and continue making films. And next year we might see Miller back here competing during her senior year of high school.
