Josh Naud
Can you please tell me a bit about the film festival you’re organizing?
The Calgary Student Film Festival (CSFF) is basically a citywide festival for the youths in Calgary’s high schools. Basically we thought of the idea in September and started working on it then and it’s currently scheduled to have a screening on May 11 at the Cardel Theatre in the south. We’re accepting entries from high schools all over Calgary and their entries can be from 30 seconds to seven minutes long. We’re bringing in a bunch of industry professionals to judge the films and hand out awards. The submission deadline is April 14 so we’re right now in the process of accepting submissions.
Do films have to be done on a certain format like Super 8 film or do they all have to be created digitally?
They can be any format the students choose.
Why did you choose to create this festival for students only?
I’m a student myself and me and my friends sat down one day and said that there weren’t enough youths who were making films and they didn’t necessarily know anyone to make films with. We wanted to find a networking opportunity for the youths in Calgary to see who else is out there making films and be able to collaborate a bit more. Also we saw that the film industry here is a lot weaker in comparison to say America and whatnot. We thought there was an extreme lack of interest in youths [in film] just because it’s not really introduced as an art form or a form of communication. We hope that we can get more youths interested in filmmaking and hopefully create a hub of filmmaking in Calgary.
How did you get involved in the festival itself? Do you have aspirations to work in the film industry that led you to get involved in this event?
I’m hoping to go to film school next year for post-secondary and I had just started making films with a couple friends last year and we entered a couple small film festivals and 48-hour film challenges. We thought there weren’t enough opportunities for students to actually enter these competitions. A lot of them require you to be over 18 which is why we decided to sit down and organize the festival.
What has the public response to the festival been like so far?
It’s been surprisingly good actually. We were surprised to see the number of youths who are interested in film. Right now we have a submission form online and we have about 20 people who have entered and have said that they’ll be making a film. We’re only able to screen 15 to 20 films at the festival so since the deadline isn’t until April 14 we’re expecting we’ll have to cut about half the entries. But a lot of people from different schools have all wanted to enter and compete against other schools so it’s been really cool.
Is the festival only for high school students? How old do students submitting films have to be?
We’ve said it’s a high school film festival but if there are kids younger in junior high who want to submit we’ll let them but no one older [than high school]. So no one in university or who is working can enter the festival.
What sorts of entries are you expecting to receive or have already received?
The ones that have come in so far have been animations which is cool because we weren’t expecting that at all. But most of the ones that people have been asking for ideas about have been for comedies and we’ve seen a couple of crime stories coming up and some gangster movie ideas as well.
Do you have a theme for the festival this year since it’s the festival’s first year?
We actually haven’t come up with anything we just decided to see what direction things would go in and keep it general — at least for the first year.
Do you have plans to continue the festival in coming years?
We want to but I guess the problem right now is that our organizing team is all [high school] seniors except for one student. So I guess we have to look for some Grade 10s or 11s that can continue the legacy.
What’s in it for students who win at the festival? Are there any prizes or do they only win bragging rights?
We’ve been running around to a bunch of different stores and asking for sponsorship. We have a bunch of places donating gift cards video equipment rental discounts and things like that. Hopefully we’ll split those up into prize packages and give them out at the screening.
How big do you think the potential for this festival is given students’ interest in this year’s event?
I really hope it gets big. When we were advertising for it we were going around to every high school and stuck hundreds of posters up everywhere so we’ve definitely reached a lot of people although not all of them are interested in film. But we’re hoping that this does at least give young filmmakers an opportunity to see their films on the big screen and then hopefully keep them pursuing their hobby or interest.
In your opinion what does it take to make a good film whether you’re a student or a professional filmmaker?
We think it comes down to storytelling and that’s about it. For our judging criteria we put that down as double the points worth more than anything else. I think you just need a clear narrative and believable characters in your story.
Learn more at csff2013.com .
