Sonoma Valley High School’s media arts class showcased student films on April 3 to an excited audience of students at the Sebastiani Theater.
The film fest, which showed 32 student films this year and which has been an exciting event for student creatives and actors for 24 years, is sponsored by the Sonoma International Film Festival, a popular March event that brings filmmakers from around the world to Sonoma.
Eight student films, ranging from romantic to thriller and murder mystery, were selected as “featured” for the event.
After all of the films played on April 3rd, the students in attendance at the event voted for films that they believed were the best edited, had the best actors, the best script, the best cinematography, and the best picture.
Isabella Alvarez and Mari Purtell’s “What We Can’t Erase” received the award for the best editing. It utilized captivating scenes and superimposition (overlaying video footage on another scene) to create stunning visuals that captivated the audience.
The best acting award went to “Muse,” a fashion-inspired thriller directed by Brianna Vargas, Hector Acevedo, Karina Chavez, and Elizabeth Contreras. The movie captured the tension between a suspicious magazine photographer and his models.
Siena Kelly’s “The Head and The Heart”, starring Isabella Alvarez and Lani Delorefice, won the award for best cinematography and received massive support from a cheering audience. The film depicted a romance where one character moved through life carrying her brain in her hand and the other her heart.
“There Are No Repeats In Life,” by Andrea Chavez and Mischa Brown, was voted as having the best script. It featured thoughtful dialogue on themes of nostalgia and moving on.
Finally, “Opposite Sides of the Hallway,” directed by Vee Lucatero and Isabella Zuniga, explored themes of friendship and anxiety and featured scenes filmed at SVHS, ultimately won the best picture award.
