Highfields’ first ever Young Wolf Film Festival was a huge success as hundreds of students, staff and members of the public from around the city joined together to celebrate the wonderful world of movies.
The week-long festival kicked off with a visit to Birmingham’s landmark Electric Cinema, where 63 students from Years 7-13 heard a talk about its rich history and watch animated film Coco.
The first day was rounded off in style when members of HTV and Film Club took to the red carpet at Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre alongside two Sixth Form students, Jemma Payne and Jack Beckett, for the annual DIGI Awards. The talented HTV team picked up the accolade for Best Secondary Innovative Practice in recognition of their fantastic work bringing the school’s success stories to life on screen in weekly news bulletins. Jemma Payne also edged out an incredibly strong field to win her second successive DIGI Award for Best KS5 Short Film.
Sadly, Film Club’s effort Nova didn’t win awards glory this year, although the team had a great time at the DIGI Awards, which are held annually to celebrate the achievements of learners and teachers in digital film and creative media.
The packed programme continued into day two when students and staff tested their movie knowledge with a series of quizzes, whilst students from four other city schools descended for movie-making madness on day three. Fifty students were involved, from primary (Springdale), special (Pennfields) and secondary (St Peter’s and St Edmund’s). Learners were given an expert tutorial in movie makeup and special effects by industry professional Laura Durand before trying their hands at applying their own prosthetic injuries.
The celebrations continued with students using both green screen and digital effects to collaborate on a disaster movie, Disasterquake, which received its world premiere in front of an appreciative audience at the Young Wolf Film Festival Awards Evening. The final part of the day featured a foley sound session from ‘Into Film’ whizz Dan Clifford, where students used an assortment of everyday materials such as celery and paperclips to recreate and record sounds for their film.
The Awards Evening was a huge success as students, staff and parents braved the fierce heat to celebrate movies made by students from across the City over the past year. Our well-attired invitees, dressed to the nines, walked the red carpet and joined together to enjoy a wide range of films made by a diverse range of students.
Members of the Highfields choir and the KS3 performance group set the tone with two terrific performances and the keynote address, given by Simon Brew (author, creator and editor-in-chief of Den of Geek, one of the UK’s most popular film websites) was inspiring.
Highfields scooped the prestigious best Key Stage 5 Film despite some high quality opposition, and the school also won other awards, including Outstanding Achievement awards for both Year 8’s Jude Aston and Sixth Form student Jagpreet Jhamat.
The Film Festival finished on a high with A Night At the Movies finale, which featured a rousing sing-a-long screening of The Greatest Showman and incorporated this year’s Summer Song & Dance Show, which gave students the chance to showcase their own performance talents in front of a live audience.
