Fort’s First Film Festival

The Filmmaking Club kicked off its first annual student Film Festival in the library on May 16th, 2023. 

The festival featured a variety of genres and topics, including seven student written, directed, and edited films along with a collaboration between the club and the J-Walkers, Fort Hamilton’s Christian club, for a Christmas special. 

 The club screened the documentary, “The Controlled Chaos of B64,” which gave insight into the world of  Fort Hamilton’s Leadership program as directors Sara Elazab and Devin Wong interviewed different Leadership members and faculty of the  room B64. 

The festival also featured narrative-based films such as “Buying Happiness,” which was written and directed by freshman Joanna Tang. The film explored the perils of using money to buy items in order to achieve happiness, rather than experiencing life with those you care about. The film festival was Tang’s first experience directing, and she plans on participating in the festival next year as well.

The Filmmaking Club presented its first screening of “Keepin’ Bay Ridge Alive,” which explored the legacy of the 1977 film “Saturday Night Fever” taking place in Bay Ridge and parts of Bensonhurst. The film was the focus of the club’s efforts across this school year. 

At the conclusion of the screenings, two awards for Excellence in Directing were given to Stamatis Karathomas and Joanna Tang, along with the award for Best Film which went to Tang’s “Buying Happiness.”  

The festival opened and closed with musical performances by senior Julia Miranda and Fort Hamilton based band T.U.U, or The United Unicorns. Both performances featured original songs from the artists along with covers such as “My Future” by Billie Eilish from Miranda and “Somethin’ in the Way” by Nirvana from T.U.U. 

Keychains were sold featuring posters of famous movies of the student films and of the performers; the proceeds will go to film equipment that the club can use in the future. 

Prior to the festival, the club hosted “numerous workshops in the areas of forming an interesting narrative, screenwriting, filming on set, and editing,” explained Club President Joanna Ascher. Along with the new workshops, Ascher explained that “[the club] decided to open it up to any category,ranging from narrative to experimental and everything in between, giving aspiring filmmakers, even those who were unable to attend our weekly club meetings, the chance to have their work screened and even win awards.” 

The Film Festival put a spotlight on student films and will be an event to look forward to next year.