Film Prize New Mexico Jr. awards prizes to 24 shorts

Adrian Gomez, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·2 min read

Apr. 4—Twenty-four winning films.

More than $7,000 in scholarships and media grants.

These are a few of the statistics from the Film Prize Junior New Mexico, which was held at the Albuquerque Convention Center on April 1.

The festival, presented by the Film Prize Foundation, featured a record-breaking 93 student short films.

The short films were created by middle and high school students from over 50 schools in 20 New Mexico counties, most of which serve small, rural communities.

Seventeen films were created by Native students, with support from the Institute of American Indian Arts.

"Watching the students watch their films, seeing them connect with one another and celebrating their achievements are what Film Prize Junior is all about," said Rosey Hayett, Film Prize Jr. NM director. "This was an incredibly inspiring weekend, and we can't wait to gear up and start next year's Film Prize Junior program."

In it's second year, the event is the youth version of the award-winning Louisiana Film Prize, a short film competition with the largest cash prize in the world for an independent short film.

The Film Prize Junior program supports middle and high school classrooms as well as summer and after-school programs to experience the entire process of creating a short film, from story and script development, to production and editing.

"This program has allowed me to have a voice," said Megan James, whose film "Deprived" won the award for best High School Drama, as well as the High School Grand Prize Award. "The Film Prize experience these last two years has helped me grow into a more experienced, established and effective filmmaker."

James, who is Diné, added, "I will continue to fight to have Indigenous People represented in a positive and accurate way in the film industry."

Joaquin Kriegel from Deming High School won the Audience Choice Award for his spooky ghost story "Holy Cross," which also won for Best High School Thriller.

Other high school genre awards went to "I Want to Be a Cowboy" for Best Comedy by Explore Academy in Albuquerque; Best Sci-fi-Fantasy was "The New Old Witches" by Emma Myers from Santa Fe Prep, and Jaiya Daniels' "Sisters of the Circle" took the Best Documentary Award for Los Alamos High School. The heist story "Project Braender" by DATA Charter's Janeyere Stockton won the award for Best High School Animation.

The middle school winners are:

—"The Taste of Loneliness" from Taos Integrated School.

—"The Proof is in the Jello" by Tulsi Shaw.

—"Let's Watch a Movie" by Mesilla Valley Leadership School.

—"Hideous Helda" by Violet Meiser.

—"Refugee Students" from McKinley Middle School.

—"Water, Star Medicine" from Turquoise Trail Charter School.