DeKalb film students part of film festival today, dreaming of Academy Awards tomorrow

Berndt Petersen
·2 min read

Some DeKalb County film students may be on stage at the Oscars before you know it. They just took top honors at a local film festival.

Channel 2′s Berndt Petersen was at the DeKalb School of the Arts, where some of the biggest names in Atlanta’s movie industry were impressed by the students.

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High school senior Sway Powers made sure she took lots of pictures.

“I’ve never felt that way before. Never had an event as big as that before,” Sway said.

With a recent red carpet event at Atlanta’s Plaza Theatre, Sway and fellow film students at the DeKalb School of the Arts had an award-winning night like no other.

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Sway’s film was among the best at the DeKalb County Student Film Festival.

The judges included some of the industry’s movers and shakers, including executives from Tyler Perry Studios.

Film teacher Reagan Woods says the School of the Arts is one of 15 high schools across DeKalb with programs that are preparing students to study film at the top colleges, and then land great jobs with the producers who are shooting movies in and around Atlanta.

“We can be a part of this pipeline that’s happening in Georgia. This growing film industry that is really doing great for our state,” Woods said.

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For Sway, it’s the Student Film Festival today and perhaps the Academy Awards tomorrow.

“I think it was a really big night for me. I think that’s the starting point of my career,” Sway said.

This was the school’s 5th annual film festival.

Administrators said the School of Arts has now won the top film five years in a row.

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