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Student film festival coming to the Wild Center

Tupper Lake high school senior Kasandra Sipler, right, spent weeks filming and editing a short documentary about Tupper Lake photographer Katleen Bigrow’s photos, which will be shown at the Beyond the Peaks Student Film Festival at the Wild Center on May 10. She stands with her boyfriend, Trenton Yerdon, at the March opening of the Tupper Arts Center’s showing of Bigrow’s photos. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

TUPPER LAKE — Over the past few months, students around the Adirondacks have been shooting short films, documentaries and animations.

On May 10, they will gather at the Wild Center to attend the first ever Beyond the Peaks Student Film Festival, receiving awards, having their photos taken on the red carpet and watching the films they’ve spent weeks producing premiered on the big screen.

Students from Tupper Lake, Newcomb, Beekmantown, Long Lake, Salmon River and West Canada Valley submitted 50 films, ranging from 60 seconds long to 15 minutes long, and shot using equipment from iPads to professional cameras.

Categories of films include animation, drama, PSAs, comedy, documentary and “Made in the Adirondacks.” They have been viewed by 14 judges, who will vote for first-, second- and third-place winners.

Brittany Christenson, one of the judges and the executive director of ADKAction, has seen submissions to the “Made in the Adirondacks” category and an open category, and said she was struck by the films the students produced.

“There was a whole range of emotions,” Christenson said. “Some of them made me cry, some made me laugh, others just made me feel humbled by the stories young people have to tell.”

The film festival is a collaboration between ADKAction and the Tupper Lake Central School District, spearheaded by high school teacher Wendy Cross.

Christenson said Tupper Lake schools have already invested in film, with Superintendent Seth McGowan writing a successful grant for the district to purchase a small film studio, including cameras, microphones, a green screen and editing equipment.

Christenson said last year Cross and three Tupper Lake students joined her in attending a statewide student film festival in Connecticut. She said she was inspired as she saw quality films and excited students.

“Seeing the level of thought, creativity and energy that went into the whole process made us feel like we had the right idea in doing a student film festival here,” Christenson said. “Filmmaking, in general, is so useful, whether someone actually wants to make full-length feature films or work for a media company.”

They organized an Adirondacks festival, and even had Cameron Audia, the executive producer of the Connecticut event, put on two professional development days, teaching the teachers some of the finer tricks of the amateur film trade.

Christenson was just as impressed with the films that will be shown May 10.

“The thing that stuck out to me most was how relatable they were,” Christenson said. “I feel like students are more involved in politics and culture and some of the larger national conversations than we realize and it was really neat to see what they’re passionate about and the stories that they wanted to tell.”

She said seats for the Beyond the Peaks Student Film Festival are scarce and if anyone wants to attend they should pre-register at the festival’s Eventbrite by that same name. They will also stream the event on Facebook Live.

There’s not enough time to show all the films, but the top three from each category will be screened, totaling 21 films.

A historic film

Tupper Lake High School senior Kasandra Sipler’s documentary “50 Years Cementing Time: The Kathleen Bigrow Project” is a look at the photographer who captured half a century’s worth of historic moments in Tupper Lake.

Sipler said she loves history, and plans to study it in college. Her documentary includes photos taken by Bigrow, interviews with Jim Lanthier and Ed Donnelly, who are preserving her photos, and home footage of bears taken by Bigrow’s husband. Using a variety of sources for the film meant a lot of editing for Sipler, which she said was infuriating at times.

“There were times when I just wanted to take the computer and chuck it out the window,” Sipler said.

She said the hardest part of production was making sure all her clips were put together in the right order.

“Making sure that the story I wanted to portray about Mrs. Bigrow was shown through it,” Sipler said.

She had filmed short PSAs for classes before, but this was her longest project to date, at five minutes long. Sipler said she learned a lot of techniques, including editing, lighting and audio. All the students involved, she said, were watching each other’s films and giving suggestions and critiques. Sipler said she enjoyed the process and she hopes to make more history-related films in the future.

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