Film:

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A slate of four judges from the Atlanta film industry voted on novice and advanced films for categories including best editing, best cinematography, best acting, best overall and audience choice. Dunwoody High School students took home trophies in the audience choice category for both their novice and advanced films.

The novice film, “Eye of the Beholder,” was also named runner-up for best set design. Students Aidan Kramer, Joey Guggenheim, Ian Ballow, Riley Gunter, Joshua Estes and Ella Kellner worked on the film.

Yeats Bell and Carter Dyche, 11th graders at Dunwoody High School have been in the “film academy” program for the past two years. They starred in and worked on the school’s advanced film submission, “A Brush With the Past.”

Along with Bell and Dyche, students Jaeden Brown, Blake Jones, Julia Ellet and Gillian Lenertz worked on the short film.

The film tells the story of a man who becomes obsessed with a cursed paintbrush that drives its owner mad. Bell and Dyche said making it to the film festival has been an “incredibly exciting experience” that they will remember fondly for years.

“If we’re able to reach this high and go to the film festival, I can only imagine what that will do for the program,” Bell said.

“I’m very excited to see the future of the program.”

The pair said they are glad the school has a film program because it allows them to create their own art.

“I feel like film is where my creative expression shines the most,” Dyche said.

The said they are also grateful the DeKalb County School District has invested in film programs for high school students.

“It’s the idea of movie magic, but it’s in the classroom,” Bell said. “You can’t really capture a better feeling.”

Tammy Wichman, the Film Academy and mass communications teacher at Dunwoody High School said events like the student film festival are vital.

“I think it’s really important that they are allowed to express their creativity and use their imagination in a forum that is open for them to make mistakes and learn,” Wichman said.

The teacher makes it mandatory for all of her program’s students to attend whether or not their film was nominated. Senior Marc-Alexandre Barbe, who has been in the film academy for four years, said “its awesome how DeKalb supports the arts.”

This is the first time Wichman’s current students have attended the annual student film festival. For the past few years, the festival has been held online due to COVID-19 concerns. She said nights like this give students “a voice and gives them a platform to express it.”

Tom McFerrin is an instructional coordinator for the Career, Technical and Agricultural Educational programs, which include film programs in schools across DeKalb County. McFerrin sees film programs in the school district as vital — he’s helped increase the number to 15 programs.

To the coordinator, teaching students about film makes sense in Georgia, where the film industry is rapidly expanding.

“Its super important to keep these kids in Georgia,” McFerrin said. “To keep them in the industry here, right in our backyard.”

He said the students, who collaborate and create the films entirely on their own, often “blow him away.”

“For them to be able to edit and put together a story and put it on film is pretty impressive,” McFerrin said.

Also at the festival, Chamblee High School students took home the best editing and best cinema awards in the novice category for their short film “Guise.”