By Jessica Martin
Back in 2012 my dad came to me and told me the Newport Folk Festival – that he was part of – was looking for a youth component to complement the festival weekend. After some discussion with their president Michael Stewart we decided to have a youth film festival.
The Newport Youth Film Festival is run by young people for young people and is one of the events at the 2017 Newport Folk Festival.
For this year’s festival, young people aged 12-25 years are invited to submit their short films by 2 June 2017, and selected films will be shown at the recently opened Newport Hub on 30 June 2017.
As a teenager some of my friends who were interested in film making at the time and some still to this day have helped by expanding on this idea that we built on all those years ago.
We met with Michael who really supported us and still helps us today establish a real sense of what it takes to hold and run an event with some mentoring on how hopefully we can create it as a bigger and better event in the near future.
“The Newport Youth Film Festival is in its fifth year, and was started to introduce a youth component to the Newport Folk Festival weekend,” says Festival Director, Imogen Stroud. “Over the years, the festival has featured films that have shown audiences the imaginations of young people and how they see the world through the art of filmmaking. Different types of films have been submitted and shown, from stop motion to small documentaries”.
The really exiting aspect of running a film festival is the unknown, as each and every year we are unsure what type of content we are going to see from these amazingly talented young people who have really dedicated time and energy to produce to the best of their abilities.
Young filmmakers from the west and beyond are encouraged to open their minds to creating and submitting a short film. You may have made the film through school or college or just to prove you could!
If you want to be part of this exciting event and further your filmmaking skills, and you are aged between 12 to 25 years old we would love your submission.
You will find all the details on www.newportyouthfilmfestival.com or like us on Facebook: Newport Youth Film Festival Australia.
*Entries closed on the 2nd of June 2017
