Elk Grove High School to Feature International Films at this Year's Fest

For the first time in its three year history, the CinéStudent Film Festival at Elk Grove High School will be featuring films from all over the world.

"This year we have truly become an international student film festival," says Bruce Janu, an Elk Grove teacher and the festival director. "We've got films from five continents."

Using the on-line submission system called Film Freeway, the CinéStudent Film Festival has been opened up to many more talented student filmmakers from across the world. As a result, the festival had to add a new category this year for foreign entries. Included in the foreign entry category are student films from Australia, Portugal, Iran, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Lithuania. In fact, Lithuania had the most entries with three films.

The festival will be held at Elk Grove High School on the evening of March 17. A selection of films from the world entries will be shown. The focus of the festival and awards presentation will be the films from the Chicagoland area, however. Nearly every school in High School District 214 is represented at the festival, along with Glenbrook South. Admission is free.

Awards will be given for Best Narrative Film, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay and Best Performance. Each award includes an engraved trophy or certificate, plus a monetary prize as well. The winner of the best Narrative Film category will also receive a free copy of the editing software, HitFilm Pro. Plus, the audience will get to vote on their favorite film as well. That award also includes an engraved trophy and a monetary prize. Filmmakers are encouraged to bring family and friends to the festivities.

Filmmakers will gather at a special reception and then walk the red carpet, which features the logo of the Elk Grove Soccer Club, the 2017 Official Sponsor of the festival. The entire event will be filmed and later broadcast on Elk Grove Channel 6 on Comcast cable.

More information can be found at the festival's website: http://www.cinestudentfilmfest.org.

For information:

Bruce Janu

Elk Grove High School

CSFF Director

bruce.janu@d214.org

847-721-9222