Extremely Young Film Festival
A Popcorn Kids Screening made possible by Reliant, an NRG Company
Co-Presented with Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Juror Chris Strompolos in Attendance
Saturday, March 1, 6PM
Location: Brown Auditorium, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Free with Advanced Ticket Registration at www.mfah.org
Aurora Picture Show is pleased to announce the selections for the First Annual Extremely Young Film Festival from festival juror Chris Strompolos. With over 75 entries, the selections represent media arts organizations, classrooms and filmmakers from across the United States. Hosted in partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and made possible thanks to the support of Reliant, an NRG Company, this inaugural film festival will showcase the talents of more than 30 youth filmmakers on Saturday, March 1st at 6PM in the Brown Auditorium of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (1001 Bissonnet).
Born out of the spirit of Aurora Picture Show's Extremely Shorts Film Festival, which features film and video under three minutes long, Extremely Young Film Festival puts the spotlight on films under three minutes long from makers 17 years old and under. Celebrating their artistic, creative and technical strengths and interpretations on the world in which they live, these voices are the future of media expression. At the screening, our Juror will reveal his top choice from each category, Youth and Teen, and votes will be taken for Audience Choice Awards in each category as well. Four prizes will be given out to both the Audience and Juror selections in each age category.
Aurora welcomes back Chris Strompolos as the juror of the festival. Strompolos produced and acted in Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation. Originally screened at Aurora Picture Show in 2008, Eric Zala, Jayson Lamb and Chris Strompolos were just twelve years old when they set out to make their own shot-by-shot re-creation of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." They finished at age nineteen. By saving up their allowances, hijacking younger siblings, and setting Eric's basement on fire, they used astonishing ingenuity to make a film that is surprisingly entertaining, even stunning. MFAH Films will screen the film in tandem with the film festival on Friday, Febraury 28th at 7:30PM.
Representing submissions from 7 states, and even one submission from Moldova, the following films will screen as part of the film festival:
TEEN (Ages 13 to 17)
La Pulga de Cole, Elizabeth Sandoval, Texas
"This is from a point of view perspective of a character who recalls joyous memories lived through at a flea market in a Spanish-speaking country. The character recalls these memories while walking through a closed, foggy flea market. However, the footage is all taken from different places around Houston, Texas. It is a video mimicking the vivid and vibrant colors of childhood memories in Spanish-speaking countries like Mexico."
The Canvas of Tomorrow, Jennifer Cuello, Texas
"Youth making a stand for their passion not letting anything stop them. Pushing themselves to express or show their love for what they do in the world. We chose our destiny."
Spider Dog, Emily Berens, Wisonsin
"A superhero character, named Spider Dog, intervenes to stop criminal hijinks involving two thugs and a friendly neighborhood taco truck."
Cut Voices, Tastes Like Paint, Minnesota
"Cut Voices is an 16 mm experimental film created by high school students in Rochester MN at the Rochester Art Center. In the vein of artist Maya Deren students created a narrative through visuals and sound, abstaining from dialogue."
Rearranged, Abbey Sacks, Michigan
"This experimental film explores the mind of a kid who feels lost and unable to connect to anyone around him, as well as trapped by the social conditioning in his culture."
Mother Nature, Abbey Sacks, Michigan
"This short is about industrialization, representing how it has affected the simple beauty of our earth. It follows the journey of 'Mother Nature,' who discovers the disorienting world outside of the forest."
Fly on the Walmart, Anna Peters, Texas
"Checking in on the various regions of the Walmartian underbelly."
The Quest of the One Armed Hobo, Emily Richendollar, Ohio
"One man, with one arm, will fight his way through incredible obstacles to find shelter. Confronted by an oncoming storm, he is faced with overwhelming challenges. Witness him... knocking on doors... With one arm! Tremble! as he's attacked by a man... with TWO ARMS."
Wonderland, Alex Thompson and Ellis Bullington, Texas
"A reinterpretation of Alice in Wonderland using green screen, stop motion animation, and various other techniques."
ILL, Adrian Perez, Texas
"This piece was made to express my nauseated reaction to mundane occurrences in my day to day life."
Happiness and Harmony, Adrian Perez, Texas
"This piece is my experimentation of a combination of personal and appropriated footage. The imagery is arranged to persuade the audience they've witnessed something profound."
Focus, Adrian Perez, Texas
"This piece serves to portray the overwhelming result television and moving images on screens have on their audiences."
Lo, Nuri Craig, Texas
"A girl unmasking herself to be comfortable in her own skin"
Wake Up. , Marlene Marlowe, Texas
"A representation of the painful repetition we endure on a daily basis."
Star Girl, Ari F'Letcher- Bai, Texas
"The story of StarGirl."
Time War, Anna Waters, Texas
"A short animation to the Doctor Who rhyme Time War. Does not contain spoilers."
Kiss Me, I'm Artist, James Kerley, Texas
"For a performance and installation gallery exhibition, I created a kissing booth called 'Kiss Me, I'm Artist' where I invited people from my school to kiss me at the opening of the exhibition."
Religious Debate, Jimmy Papik, California
"A documentary short about tolerance and understanding."
Right Here on Venice Pier, Tal Day, California
"This documentary short is about fishing for sustenance in Venice, CA."
In the Mind, Emily Berens, Wisconsin
"This is a short story about the interior life of a middle school boy. It shows the joy and imagination underneath a veneer of indifference in his external persona."
YOUTH (Ages 12 and under)
Allow us to Illustrate, 5th Grade Fugleflick Film Filmmakers, Illinois
"A group of students use original music, drawings, and animations to convince their teacher to allow them to illustrate."
Origami Crane, Joseph Orr, Andrew Lu, Jonathan Lu, Shaeli Halliburton, Texas
"An origami crane breathes life into a barren world."
The World I Imagine, Looscan Elementary, Texas
"A stop motion film based on lines complied from student poems."
Majestic Hand, Nina Mussa and Ezra Abdel-Aquil, Texas
"A hand that is able to produce magical objects."
Food Web *, Henry Robbins, Ohio
"This film was created in 2013 by the 5th Grade Gifted Students at Hanby Elementary in Westerville, Ohio. The project began with individual student research projects, each about a specific animal. Students used what they had learned about their animals to create and choreograph clay characters into an animated film."
Come Little Children Music Video, Natasha and Athena Haq, Texas
"A shadow comes and takes little children from their homes at night."
Na straganie (At the stall), Turcanu Valter, Selickaia Alisa, Rogova Mari, and Puhlitscaia Alexandra, Moldova
"Based on poem of Jan Brzechwa"