Calabasas showcases student films





The fourth annual Calabasas High School Film Festival took place June 6 in the CHS theater, giving students a chance to showcase their work and receive recognition in a variety of categories, including screenplay, editing, costume, makeup, visual effects and cinematography.

Awards were also given for best actor and actress, best director, best motion pictureanimation, best motion picture-comedy and best motion picture-drama.

“Watching millions of movies, especially ones that were made by Quentin Tarantino and Paul Anderson, has really inspired and influenced me,” said senior Andrew Bundy, winner of best screenplay for his film “Crime of Cowards.”

Recipients were given coveted Selke Awards, named after the creator and organizer of the film festival, Calabasas High teacher Margerie Selke.

In addition to “Crime of Cowards,” other Selke winners included “Adventure of the Missing Candy Bar,” “Daisy,” “Back to the Drawing Board” and “Hillary and Obama.”

A film festival inspirational award went to “Grammy” Marjorie Selke, who is Margerie Selke’s mother.

“(Grammy) attends all the plays and festivals, and out-dances the kids when she attends the school dances,” said the younger Selke. “She inspires people to be more active in the arts.”

Thirteen judges, consisting of eight CHS faculty members and five from the Los Angeles entertainment industry, chose the film festival winners.

Credit was also given to the CHS Public Relations Committee, which was assigned to assist Selke with advertising, promotion and invitations.

“(The committee) did a wonderful job organizing fliers and getting the word out about the festival,” said Selke. “They also helped get a designer for the program this year.”

The volunteers who handed out the Selke Awards were called the “Golden Awards Girls.” This year’s girls were Carly Forster, Emily Lalande, Michelle Rau, Sharona Rosen, Jennifer Sumpter and Kristen Kubiak.

“I really enjoyed listening to the winners’ speeches and all the funny comments the students make,” Kubiak said. “The winners all deserved their awards, and my favorite part was getting a hug from Grammy.”

Lizzie Azran, a sophomore, is the assistant editor of the Calabasas Courier school newspaper.


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