The 2022 Ferris Film Festival, held on May 19th in the Ferris Auditorium, screened 15 short films by 13 budding Ferris cinematographers.  Categories included short artistic film or animation, documentary, comedic or dramatic film, news package, and music video.

“The interests of student film makers here at Ferris are so varied; I really feel that the categories chosen this year by members of the film club allowed for a wide range of submissions,” said Mrs. Herold, film club adviser.

The event is hosted each year by the Ferris Film Club, and it is their biggest annual event, taking several months to plan.  The top three submissions in each category are screened at the festival, and the event ends with a movie candy and popcorn reception in honor of the winners.

“I was really pleased that 13 film makers were honored this year, and I wanted to acknowledge the film club leadership, who put on a great event from start to finish.  Students decorated, planned the reception, wrote their own scripts, and presented the winners,” said Herold.

The Festival judges view each film before making their decisions. This year, entries were judged by English teachers Erik Powell and Ashley Jones.  Powell has taught at Ferris since 1999, and Jones started working at Ferris in 2007. While Jones jokingly claims that “the book is always better than the movie,” Powell adds that he and Jones “love movies of all kinds” and that he “incorporates them into his classes whenever possible.”

Those choices are communicated to Mrs. Herold, who orders the awards and creates the envelopes to be opened at the event in front of the studio audience.

“We bring in outside judges each year, and I order the plaques, so the winners are a surprise to everyone, even the members of the club,” said Mrs. Herold.

While not every submission is chosen for screening, club members encourage Ferris film makers to start planning their entries for next year now.

FESTIVAL CATEGORY WINNERS WERE: 

SHORT ARTISTIC FILM OR ANIMATION 

The Short Artistic Film category includes artistic and/or animated films up to 90 seconds long that have an identifiable and consistent theme with clear visual continuity.

1st Place – Animated FIN Introduction, Roary Bruce 

2nd Place – Six Word Story, Jorge Flores 

Third Place – Six Word Story, Tommy Tschirgi 

DOCUMENTARY FILM 

The Documentary Film category includes films that tell a non-fiction story drawing from one or more of the six modes of documentary.  In alphabetical order by cinematographer last name, our selections are: 

1st Place – Senior Softball, Emma Gillespie 

2nd Place -The Life of a Tree, Tallan Avery 

Third Place -Youth Group, Tommy Tschirgi 

COMEDIC OR DRAMATIC FILM 

The Comedic or Dramatic Film category includes films that develop a clear narrative arc to tell a compelling story.  In alphabetical order by submitting cinematographer’s last name, our selections are: 

1st Place – When You Trust a Fool, Caleb Hicks and Ben Armstrong 

2nd Place – Destruction, Braedon Folsom and Ameer Nelson-Smith 

Third Place -Don’t Litter in Gotham, Will White and Sumner Corrales 

NEWS PACKAGE 

The News Package category includes one-to-three-minute news stories that have present a topic of interest to Ferris students and have clear news value. In alphabetical order by journalist/cinematographer last name, our selections are: 

1st Place – Saxon Grounds, Roary Bruce 

2nd Place -ELD, Roary Bruce 

Third Place – AP Psychology, Ava Romine 

MUSIC VIDEO 

The Music Video category includes films that utilize a variety of cinematic elements to enhance an existing song and to tell a compelling story.  In alphabetical order by cinematographer last name, our entrants are: 

1st Place – Renegades (X Ambassadors), Megan Hay 

2nd Place – Older (Sasha Sloan), Emma Gillespie 

Third Place – Safe (Antione Bradford), Tommy Tschirgi