Save the Date for Huntington
Film Festival
The annual Huntington High School Film Festival will be moving to a larger stage next spring. The Cinema Arts Centre has offered use of its facility for the May 29 event and the teenage filmmakers are already getting excited about the still far-off festival.
The third annual festival was originally set for June 1 in the Huntington High School auditorium but when Dylan Skolnick, co-director of the CAC offered to host it there, the district jumped at the opportunity. Admission to the festival is free. Entire families are welcome to attend.
The evening will run from 7-8:15 p.m. and feature music videos, commercials, documentaries, silent 8MM film, 2D/live action, Rotoscope, short stories, movie parodies, Stop Motion, public service announcements, art movement, invisible man and multi-cam works. A DVD of all festival films will be available for $10.
"The students are really excited about having their high school film festival at a professional theater," said Joan R. Fretz, district director of fine and performing arts. "The Cinema Arts Center has been the host to many special film events and recently hosted the First Exposure Film Festival, which our Huntington students have been honored to participate in. They are being very generous to open the theater for our use at no cost to the district."
The Huntington Foundation provided the high school video program with a shot in the arm two years ago by helping fund the acquisition of cutting-edge equipment, including 20 new iMacs with Final Cut Studio 2 for video editing and digital effects, Adobe Suite CS 4 for graphic design and a new XServe to manage the student accounts and software.
Huntington students are able to work with multiple layers of video footage and a smooth work flow without lagging. The teenagers are using industry standard hardware and software, which helps keep them "engaged in the classroom and competitive if they want to pursue a job in the industry," said teacher Heather Swan, who heads the high school video arts program.
The student videos are often surprisingly high in quality. Some films are hilarious while others are poignant and touching. The acting and editing is more often than not quite impressive.
"The Cinema Arts Centre is Long Island's leading venue for international and American independent films," Mr. Skolnick said. "In every schedule, we try to present the widest possible range of movies, new and old, narrative and documentary, classic and cult, as well as everything in between. Every movie we show is previewed by our programmers. We choose the best movies, and bring them to our viewers."
The Cinema Arts Centre is located at 423 Park Avenue at the site of the Huntington School District's old Village Green School.