Dodge College students take over National Film Festival for Talented Youth
Held every year in Seattle, the National Film Festival for Talented Youth is the largest youth film festival in the world. Showcasing the work of filmmakers 24 years old and under, it aims to push young creatives to tell their stories and chase their dreams.
It comes as no surprise, then, that multiple films made by current students and alumni of Chapman’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts — 11 films to be exact — are screening at this year's festival between April 3 and 6.
Take a quick look at the Chapman projects being featured at this year’s festival and gain a little insight from some of the production teams on their filmmaking experience below.
“AT THE RIVERBANK”
Photo Courtesy of AT THE RIVERBANK team
Director: Matthew Wisdom (film production 2024 alum)
Producer: Ally Smith (creative producing 2024 alum)
Director of Photography: Zohar Varadi (film production 2024 alum)
Instagram: @attheriverbank_film
Logline: As the world grows arid, a young girl searches for water to heal her injured father.
Director and writer Matthew Wisdom, producer Ally Smith, cinematographer Zohar Varadi and production designer Jacqueline Cheng (film production 2024 alum) will all be attending the NFFTY this year for their film “At the Riverbank.” Wisdom and Smith are thrilled to be able to attend, along with so many other Chapman students and young filmmaking creatives. The two hope that their film serves as a reminder that climate change is real and happening. They hope that “At The Riverbank” communicates the message that environmental protection is important and, at the end of the day, there is only one Earth.
“DID YOU FORGET MR. FOGEL?”
Photo Courtesy of DID YOU FORGET MR. FOGEL? team
Director: Max Karpman (broadcast journalism and documentary 2024 alum)
Producer: Franny Hill (broadcast journalism and documentary 2024 alum)
Director of Photography: Kaylee Smith (broadcast journalism and documentary senior)
Instagram: @marcfogeldocumentary
Logline: When American teacher Marc Fogel is detained on August 14, 2021, and sentenced to 14 years in a Russian prison camp, his family launches a campaign to bring him back home.
The team behind this documentary is so grateful for the film’s screening at the NFFTY because they want to raise as much awareness as possible of this wrongfully imprisoned teacher. To the team, screening at festivals will help Fogel’s story gain traction.
To hear more about the creatives behind this documentary, read our coverage on its production here.
“HOW ETHAN FINK BECAME A MILLIONAIRE”
Photo Courtesy of HOW ETHAN FINK BECAME A MILLIONARE team
ETHAN FINK PHOTO
Director: Arthur Dunbar (film production junior)
Producer: Macy Friday (creative producing junior)
Instagram: @ethanfinkap
Logline: A drifting high school graduate is pulled into a dangerous plot by a wealthy teenage girl who asks him to help her murder her parents in exchange for a share of their fortune.
The entire key crew of “How Ethan Fink became a Millionaire” will be attending the NFFTY, with two of them local to the Seattle area. Dunbar and co. are extremely excited to see the other films being showcased at the festival and look forward to networking opportunities with other students. The response to their film thus far has been so positive, and continuing to share the project with fellow filmmakers, they say, is what filmmaking is all about.
“LOVE’S LAST STAND”
Photo Courtesy of LOVES LAST STAND team
Director: Sam Stewart (film production 2024 alum)
Producer: Rachel Brownlee (creative producing 2024 alum)
Instagram: @loveslaststandfilm
Logline: Showbiz never dies, even in an apocalypse! When two women on opposite teams of a dating show realize their partners aren’t the ones, they must win the show’s prize, a life-saving luxury bunker, in an alternative way or risk facing the end of the world alone.
Director Sam Stewart, a class of 2024 film production alum, had always imagined their thesis film screening at a film festival. They are currently working on the feature screenplay version of “Love’s Last Stand,” but until that gets made, the team will be attending the NFFTY along with, production designer Joy Heller (film production 2024 alum) and editor Eric Rustum (film production 2024 alum).
“STAY OUT OF THE SUN”
Photo Courtesy of STAY OUT OF THE SUN team
Directors: Nidhi Kumar (film production 2024 alum), Vivienne Ayres (broadcast journalism and documentary 2024 alum), senior Zola Franchi (creative producing)
Instagram: @stayoutofthesundoc
Logline: A scrapbook of vignettes featuring individuals' experiences with colorism, recounting the messages they received about skin tone during their youth and examining how these experiences have left lasting imprints on their lives today.
The “Stay Out of the Sun” team chose the topic of colorism for their film after meeting model and activist Seema Hari. They then expanded the film’s scope to include many different people’s experiences. They were initially uncertain about what the general reception of the documentary would be given the taboo topic they chose to handle when the project originated in their “Community Voices” class within Dodge. However, they are honored to be included in such a talented cohort and hope that this important topic reaches as many people as possible.
“WHERE WE ONCE ROAMED”
Photo Courtesy of WHERE WE ONCE ROAMED team
Director: Madee Sabatier (broadcast journalism and documentary 2024 alum)
Producer: Rebecca Greenwood (broadcast journalism and documentary senior)
Instagram: @whereweonceroamed
Logline: After decades of colonialism destroyed the land that once belonged to the Blackfeet tribe, redemption begins to show itself through the release of bison in Glacier National Park.
“Where We Once Roamed” marks another documentary made in the “Community Voices” class. The team behind the film was deeply inspired by the resilience and dedication of the Blackfoot Native American tribe’s efforts to reintroduce free-roaming bison and reclaim environmental and cultural values. At the NFFTY, the team is very excited to see the work of other filmmakers their age and see what the future of the industry has to offer.
“PLEASE LEAVE”
Director: Riley Scott (film production 2024 alum)
Producer: Chris Bohme (creative producing 2024 alum)
Instagram: @pleaseleaveshort
“GRATUITY”
Director: Fiona Huxley (film production 2024 alum)
Producer: Isabella Spagnoli (creative producing 2024 alum)
Instagram: @gratuityshortfilm
“HASTA LA RAÍZ”
Director: Nuria Schettino Gonzalez (film production 2024 alum)
Producer: Ariana DeLeon (creative producing 2024 alum)
Instagram: @hastalaraiz.film
“THE DEER DIVIDE”
Directors: Nate Markquat (broadcast journalism and documentary 2024 alum), Chloe Prahl (MFA in film production)
Producers: Yinzhi Pan (broadcast journalism and documentary major), Angel Mendoza (broadcast journalism and documentary major)
Instagram: @thedeerdivide
“22”
Director: Nate Markquat (broadcast journalism and documentary 2024 alum)