MAP students participate in NYC film festival

Eleven Media Arts Program students gained valuable experience during a trip to the New York-based “All American High School Film Festival” (AAHSFF) on Oct. 4-10 and while there, produced a short documentary titled “Message Received.”

“The purpose of the trip was to make a short film emphasizing the severity and effects of cyberbullying,” said senior Nathan Ching, the director of the film. “We were able to watch, learn and connect with many other talented filmmakers across the country.”

Given less than three days to create the cyberbullying documentary, the team had the opportunity to film at locations such as Grand Central Station, Central Park and Rockefeller Center.

“Personally, this trip made me love filmmaking even more. After watching the films produced by other students, I saw a lot of space for myself to improve,” said senior Emily Li, who was the chief editor of the film. “It was definitely very exhausting and overwhelming especially because I was the editor, but every moment was worth it.”

The Saratoga group competed against 30 other teams with its film but didn't place among the finalists. However, the team is still eligible to win the “Public Choice Award” by securing the most crowd-sourced votes from the public. If it wins, the team will receive nearly $5,000 for MAP.

The idea for the trip came from assistant principal Kerry Mohnike, who visited last year’s festival with Class of 2015 alumna Sydney Torrens.

Mohnike and MAP teachers Herzman and Tony Palma chaperoned the team, which included seniors Nathan Ching, Zach Grob-Lipkis, Ryan Westman, Emily Li, Kelsey Kinoshita, Kanika Vora, Kate Smails, Laura Makeever, Suraj Mididaddi, junior Maya Gupta and sophomore Isaiah Vivero.

“This experience really expanded and diversified our perspective because we realized how much power we hold as filmmakers,” Li said.

The title of Best Overall Film was awarded to “Noose” by Jackson Shipman and Nick LaMarca from Carlsbad High School in Carlsbad, Calif.

The students who went on the trip agreed it brought home key ideas for them.

“Hopefully in the following years MAP will learn from this experience to improve its chances in this particular invitational as well as improving the program itself,” Ching said.