Red-Carpet Awards Showcase to highlight Beyond the Peaks Student Film Fest

May 31—PLATTSBURGH — The Hollywood Writers' Strike has stalled Tinseltown, but local cineastes can view their fill at Beyond the Peaks Student Film Festival featuring short films by high school students in New York, Vermont and Quebec.

The fourth Red-Carpet Awards Showcase is Saturday, June 3 at 7 p.m. at the historic Strand Theatre, 23 Brinkerhoff St., in downtown Plattsburgh.

"Beyond the Peaks is not only a celebration of young filmmakers but also a testament to the power of digital storytelling," Jennifer Kowalczyk, director of engagement & marketing at Mountain Lake PBS, said in a release.

FIVE CATEGORIES

"We're excited to recognize the hard work of our participants with this platform to showcase their work, inspire others, and shine the light on the talent and creativity in our region."

Festival jurors reviewed film submissions in five categories: Open, Comedy, Drama, PSA, and Documentary.

Each category will have a finalist, and the prize winners will be determined by the top three films overall.

The first prize is $1,000, while second place will earn $500 and third place $250.

The showcase will be the culminating event of the festival and will feature the best short films from students across the region.

"The Beyond the Peaks Film Festival began in 2019, launched by AdkAction together with Tupper Lake Central School District aiming to expand opportunities for local youth interested in digital storytelling," Logan Brody, education coordinator at Mountain Lake PBS, said.

"The festival was named for the Adirondack area students reaching 'Beyond the Peaks.' Moving into the 2022-23 school year, AdkAction sought out a trusted partner to continue this work. Mountain Lake PBS is proud to carry on the tradition as the festival's new home, presenting the fourth Beyond the Peaks Student Film Festival. The festival continues to celebrate creativity, amplifying youth voices through filmmaking and digital storytelling—underrepresented art forms in our rural communities—and has now expanded to provide a platform for high school students, grades 9-12, from New York, Vermont and Quebec to showcase their talents and passions."

DIVERSE COMMUNITY

In its first three years, the Beyond the Peaks Film Fest featured more than 100 student films from 36 school districts, according to Brody.

"This year, we've seen over 130 students participate in the program, creating and contributing to original films as directors, editors, actors, musicians and crew members. Those students come from 11 schools and multiple homeschool households in communities throughout the region and across the lake in Vermont."

"Equal Distance Project" is by Seven Bowen, a 15-year-old homeschooled student filmmaker in this year's Beyond the Peaks Film Fest.

Film Synopsis: "Women have been Nordic ski racing in the world cup for 54 years, but lots of their races have been shorter than the men's. The past few years have seen a new revolution in the sport, to get equal distances for men and women. If women can race the same distances as men in track, marathons, and ultra marathons, why not Nordic skiing?"

Why I chose to make my documentary on the Equal Distance Project:

"This fall I was talking with my friend about her mom's "Equal Distance project" and she was talking like, oh yeah, no big deal, the World Cup is starting to be equal, my mom's starting a bunch of initiatives to get longer races for women... A couple weeks later it hit me that I should do a documentary about this project! I still hadn't figured out what my film was going to be on, and here was a woman in my home town who was supposedly pushing a gigantic change in the Nordic skiing world. It was even cooler that Nordic skiing is my favorite sport, so to create a documentary about a project that was impacting the sport that I care about was huge."

"The festival encourages young people to explore and pursue career pathways in film and digital media and technologies while building lifelong connections with the arts," Brody said.

"Students who've participated in previous festival years have pursued broadcasting and film studies programs in college and professionally, including those from Visual Arts Teacher Wendy Cross's Tupper Lake High School classes.

The Beyond the Peaks Awards Showcase offers an opportunity for the community to come together and support these talented young filmmakers. The Awards Showcase is open to the public, and admission is free of charge. Community members are encouraged to attend for the chance to view the finalist films and see the winners announced.

"This year's festival saw nearly 40 films submitted in five categories—Documentary, Drama, Comedy, PSA, Open—representing film styles as diverse as stop motion animation and mockumentary," Brody said.

"To enjoy a selection of student films up on the big screen, come to the red-carpet Film Festival Awards Celebration at 7 p.m., Saturday, June 3, at the Strand Center Theatre."

Email: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

Twitter@RobinCaudell