The second annual Student Service Film Festival is moving to the Ignite Institute and students from the new STEAM school will be contributing their talents to the event.
Cooper HS sophomore Jackson LaCroix won an audience award last year and will be returning to the festival.
The festival is a joint effort between Learning Grove (formerly Children, Inc.), Navigo and Ignite. It features videos from second graders to college students.
“We’re the only festival in the world that celebrates student service projects, non-profits and issues important to kids and their communities,” said Steve Oldfield, the festival’s founder and director.
Oldfield is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who directed Covington at 200: Points of View and Lines of Sight. His work has aired on KET and in film festivals around the country.
Oldfield also mentors young filmmakers through his work with Navigo and Thomas More University, which was the site of the first annual festival. It featured 30 videos from 12 schools. The event drew more than 150 people and Oldfield and his TMU students created a television program for TBNK that features all of the films in the festival.
Oldfield is expecting videos from more than 15 schools, including newcomers Dayton, Simon Kenton and The Ignite Institute.
“Ignite is the perfect place to hold the festival,” Oldfield said. “It’s not only a bigger venue but students will be producing videos, helping to host the evening and designing our logo wall for the red carpet,” Oldfield said.
This year, Oldfield listed the festival on FilmFreeway, the same website that allows filmmakers to enter major festivals like Sundance and Cincinnati’s own Over-The-Rhine International Film Festival. Students will be able to enter as many videos as they like for free.
“I want our young filmmakers to learn the ropes of how to navigate the festival world,” Oldfield said. “They’ll also be able to enter other festivals that cater to student filmmakers.”
The Student Service Film Festival categories include Service Projects, Non-Profits, Issues, Public Service Announcements, and School Spirit. Each filmmaker selected to screen at the festival receives a medallion featuring the festival’s laurels. Festival attendees vote on audience favorites and Oldfield and team of jurors will be awarding some additional prizes.
The deadline for submissions is April 10 and the festival is the evening of April 29 at the Ignite Institute.
“I’ve been to big festivals like Sundance, Toronto and Tribeca and ours is already my favorite,” Oldfield said. “We have some really talented kids telling important stories.”
The Learning Grove
