Spring 2006

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Storytelling

The River Valley International Student Film and Photography Festival

LeRoy Vincent

After writer’s block, team disagreements, computer freezes, retakes, music changes, storyline revisions and thirteen months of dedication, Sarah, Megan and Meghan had a 3 minute drama about being stalked on a chat room ready for the judges of the River Valley International Film and Photography Festival. When interviewed about their film and the work that was involved in the 13 month process, Sarah said, “I want to go back and change a couple of scenes....I’m not sure our message came across.” In a world of non-commitment, the Festival is motivating students to embrace commitment and dedication to their work and to become intrinsically motivated.

Nestled along the beautiful Saint John River between Saint John, the oldest incorporated city in Canada, and Fredericton, is the small town of Grand Bay/Westfield, home of River Valley Middle School and the Festival. The school, a member of the Network of Innovative Schools, is known for its innovative approach to cross curricular projects. Examples of some of the award winning projects the school has developed are the Mt. Everest Hiking Challenge, Atlantic Rowing Challenge and Beauty and its Relationship to Gardner’s Intelligences. All these projects are viewable on their school website at http://rvms.nbed.nb.ca.

River Valley Middle School became a member of the Network of Innovative Schools in 2002. One of the project plans which River Valley designed for membership into the Network of Innovative Schools was the River Valley Student Film Festival. The Festival was first introduced in 2003 with the focus solely on films. It was open to all schools in Canada that were members of the Network of Innovative Schools. Film categories included Documentary, Comedy, Animation and Drama and 3 levels: Elementary (K - 5), Middle School (6 - 8), and High School (9 - 12). The judging for the first year of the festival was coordinated by Nashwaaksis Middle School and River Valley Middle School and the sponsors were Joico Shampoo of California, U.S.A. and the N.B. Dept. of Education. The first year of the festival had a total of 48 submissions from schools across Canada with seven provinces represented.

Grade 8 students Catherine, Ashlee and Rebecca had this to say about their involvement with the festival: “Submitting to the festival gave us the confidence to pursue other festivals around the world and look for other avenues to share our feelings. Within the last three years we have submitted to the Media That Matters Festival in New York and the Continental Drift International Film Festival.”
For the second year of the festival, River Valley decided to include the category of Photography along with Film Making. The Photography category included three divisions: Nature, People and Experimental Photography. The judging for the second year of the festival was coordinated by Saint John High School (New Brunswick), Our Lady of Peace School (Alberta) and River Valley Middle School (New Brunswick). Judges are professionals from the filming, photography and art world.

Judge Andrew Tidby, a professional film maker with Hit Media, has this to say about the quality of films: “I’m totally blown away with the quality of storytelling and filmmaking these children process.....I have judged 12, 13 and 14 year olds’ films that have produced better work than most students in my 3 years of film school, I’m truly blown away with the quality.”

The second annual festival saw a total of 240 submissions and all provinces of Canada represented. Pinnacle Systems of California, USA became the Platinum sponsor for the Film category of the festival, donating software and trophies. Joico Shampoo of California, USA and the N.B. Dept. of Education returned as the Platinum sponsors for the Photography category, donating trophies and cash. Winning submissions as well as the entire webcast of the awards show can be viewed on the festival website for both the Photography and Filming Category.

Grade 6 student Melissa who won first place in the people category for her picture depicting a young girl swinging happily on a tree swing in front of an old cottage says about her fame, “It was weird getting all this attention for a photograph that was so easy to take.”
So, whether you are a school of one or a school of many, the festival is for you. The offer is open to all from all over the world to submit photography and /or films and be part of this international exchange of student thoughts, ideas and stories. The prizes for this free festival are listed on the festival website with Pinnacle Systems www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Home/, a division of Avid, being the Platinum sponsor along with the New Brunswick Department of Education.

For any questions/comments please contact:
LeRoy.Vincent@nbed.nb.ca or 506-738-6501