Schaumburg's 9th Annual Screen Test Student Fest Awards Young Filmmakers

A convergence of student filmmakers - some from Schaumburg, Palatine, Naperville, and Deerfield, others from California, Oregon, Brazil, and Norway - highlighted Schaumburg's 9th annual Screen Test Student Fest last weekend at the Prairie Center for the Arts.

Local audiences at the Prairie Center and online viewers from around the world enjoyed two nights of student films. Friday's event, Screen Test Jr. and Abroad, featured works by area students in grades 5-8 and a selection of curated films from throughout the US and overseas. Saturday's festival and competition showed short works by high school students vying for cash prizes.

New this year was the inclusion of films by filmmakers outside of Illinois, from as far as Brazil and Norway. "With the festival's listing online, we quickly became an international event with submissions literally coming in from all over the world." In an effort to preserve a requirement that all filmmakers must be present at the fest, organizers arranged to allow attendance by Skype. "Within a single evening, we were seeing and talking with filmmakers in Brazil, Paris, Seattle, Los Angeles, and other locations as well as with our attending students from the area," says Pileckis.

The festival was also streamed live on YouTube.

Over $1,000 in cash prizes were awarded to films selected and reviewed by a panel of 15 judges:

Best in Show ($500 cash prize): "In a Mirror Dimly" - Iver Jensen (Stokmarknes, Norway)

2nd Place ($150): "In Her Eyes" - Cole Bacani (Naperville, IL)

3rd Place ($100): "Indecisions" - Hope Alexander (Happy Valley, OR)

Achievement in Writing ($100): "In Her Eyes" - Cole Bacani (Naperville, IL)

Highest Production Values ($100): "In a Mirror Dimly" - Iver Jensen (Stokmarknes, Norway)

Audience Award ($100): "Pedestrian" - Chris Nawrocki (Hoffman Estates, IL)

Flix in Six Award ($100): "Vacation" - Greg Sobie (Schaumburg, IL)

Screen Test Jr. Best in Show ($100): "The Battle" Joshua Costea and Peter Bundic (Vancouver, Canada)

Since 2007, Screen Test Student Fest has served to empower students by providing an outlet of creative expression through film. Open to students in grades 5-12, the festival has exhibited over 150 short films in a variety of categories including drama, comedy, nonfiction, animation, and experimental works.

Screen Test is pleased to acknowledge its 2015 Title Sponsor Tribeca Flashoint College.

Screen Test Student Fest is a program of the Village of Schaumburg.