MAPS student films selected for Polson-based film festival
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News from MAPS Media Institute
POLSON – MAPS Media Institute is pleased to announce that two of its student-made films have been selected to screen at the eighth annual Flathead Lake International Cinemafest.
Both “A Day to Remember” and “Browning Rising Voices” will screen as part of the FLIC Jr program (a competition for filmmakers aged 22 years and under). And on the heels of the National Student Production Award win from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in November of 2019, “Browning Rising Voices” has also been named a contender for FLIC Jr.’s Best Picture Award.
“A Day to Remember’’ was created by students of MAPS’s Lake County program in the spring of 2019. The 13-week course featured 25 participants from four school districts and the home-school community. Classes were hosted by the Boys and Girls Club of the Flathead Reservation and Lake County in Ronan. One set of students wrote the script, secured locations, designed costumes and made props, while the other group learned the production techniques of camera, lighting, sound and film-set protocol.
“A Day to Remember” is a narrative (fiction) short film about a group of teenagers who awake in a mysterious room with no recollection of how they got there. They must work together to find a way out and piece together the mystery of why they’re there. As they attempt their escape, it all becomes strangely familiar. The film is a humorous exploration of the importance of working together and the risks we take to do what’s right. This project was made possible by the generous support of the National Endowment of the Arts and MAPS.
“Browning Rising Voices,” created by the students of Browning High School, was a project of the MAPS Media Lab, MAPS statewide educational outreach program directed by award-winning filmmaker Dru Carr and generously supported by the Greater Montana Foundation. It is a documentary short film that tells the story of an extraordinary poetry program run by school librarian Amy Conrey Andreas. Students wrote, performed and filmed original spoken-word pieces, and also directed “vignettes” to accompany their poetry.
Both student filmmaking teams will be in Polson for the FLIC festival and will conduct Q/A style talkbacks after their screenings. “We’re thrilled the MAPS students of the Flathead Reservation, Lake County and Browning have earned the opportunity to screen their films at the prestigious FLIC event,” says Clare Ann Harff, MAPS Executive Director. “We’re confident that filmgoers at the festival will be as impressed with these incredible young artists as we were throughout the filmmaking process.”
FLIC 2020 runs from January 24-26 in Polson, Montana. “Browning Rising Voices” screens in a block of films at 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24. “A Day to Remember ‘’ screens in the FLIC Jr. block at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25. For ticket and schedule information, please visit flicpolson.com. For more information on MAPS Media Institute, please visit mapsmediainstitute.com.
