2018 Festival

50th Michigan Student Film Festival

Saturday, April 28, 2018 at the DIA's Detroit Film Theatre

Best of Show Videos

From the 330+ entries received for the 50th Michigan Student Film Festival, the following films were selected as "Best of Show" and screened at the DIA's Detroit Film Theatre on April 28, 2018.

Watch Senior Best of Show Videos

Watch Elementary/Junior Best of Show Videos

Best of Show Winners

Grade Level	Title	Category	Special Awards	Student Names	School
Senior	A Homeless Man's Untold Story	Documentary/Event		Austin Bonnema	Careerline Tech Center
Senior	You Don't Know Me.	Public Service Announcement		Gabriel Varga-Sanez, Camari Garrison, Lawrence Carter, Noah Turner, Camron Garrison, Kamyria Brown, Cece Bono, Dominic Barrett, Londie Morris, Elina Villemure, Hannah Stoneburner, Morgan Kirby, Korneel'yus Turner and Olivia Cantwell.	Downriver Detroit Student Film Consortium
Senior	FULL/EMPTY	Other (including experimental)		Leila Hilf, Max Zimmerman	Detroit Country Day School
Senior	Fighting Cancer	News/Sports/Magazine Program		Keenan Penn II, Sidney Rozzisi	Fraser High School
Senior	EAS	Narrative Film (short or feature excerpt)		Xian Castillo, Will Baker, Angel Guzman	Careerline Tech Center
Senior	The Substitute Teacher	Other (including experimental)		Jake Munson, Zach Sackrider, Carter Liss	Vicksburg High school
Senior	Don't Turn Your Windshield Into A Screen!	Public Service Announcement		Christina Grandy, Colin Panoff, Noelle Lowrie	Troy Athens High School
Senior	Crossroads Coyote	Animation	Best Animated Film	Brendon Schreiber	Romeo High School
Senior	Coloring Outside The Lines	Other (including experimental)		Dara Geva	Skyline High School (Ann Arbor)
Senior	Walk for Water - Football	Public Service Announcement		Austin Bonnema	Careerline Tech Center
Senior	Bloom	Animation		Richard Unger	Birmingham Groves High School
Senior	Athens Fringe Fest	Documentary/Event		Rachel Goodman	Troy Athens High School
Senior	Worst Day Ever	Narrative Film (short or feature excerpt)		Camryn Tynan, Hailey Rizk, Connor Kanarios, Class	Detroit Country Day School
Senior	him.	Other (including experimental)		Therese Labordo, Jane Kim	Detroit Country Day School
Senior	The Renegades	Animation		Sebastian Cubillejo, Max Rakozy, Emily Cherry, Derrick McBride-Hackett, Spencer Szczepanski, Sebastian Simon	Grosse Pointe North High School
Senior	Interlinked	Narrative Film (short or feature excerpt)	Maple Theatre Best Narrative Film	Drew Hartley, Chase Arnett, Chlor Holderbaum, Taylor Minto, Cameron Hartley	Genesee Career Institute
Senior	The Gray Castle	Narrative Film (short or feature excerpt)		Christopher L. Kaufmann	Hemlock High School
Senior	Just One Quick Text	Public Service Announcement		Alexander Smith	Vicksburg High School
Senior	Sprout	Animation		Teresa Nguyen	Careerline Tech Center
Senior	Listen To The Signs	Public Service Announcement	Best PSA	Shane Verkest	Frederick V. Pankow Center
Senior	Living Without Limits	Documentary/Event	Castorri Senior Audience Choice Award	Noah Hudson-Peralta	Frederick V. Pankow Center
Senior	A Good Death	Narrative Film (short or feature excerpt)		Brian Farstvedt, Talia Summerville, John Balian, Tyler Battershell	Lake Orion High School
Senior	Mobbin with the Clique	Music Video	Best Music Video	Nicholas Weise, Micah Williams	Lake Orion High School
Senior	Mountain Unicycling	Other (including experimental)		Richard Tharrett	Henry Ford ll Highschool
Senior	One Drink	Public Service Announcement		Maddie Miller	Lake Orion High School
Senior	Our Personas	Narrative Film (short or feature excerpt)		William Higbie, Isha Chitre, Peter Gold	University Liggett School
Senior	Painting the Town	Documentary/Event	Prusak Visionary Award for Best Documentary	William Higbie	University Liggett School
Senior	Skin	Other (including experimental)	Best Experimental Video	Erin Brennan, Sam Gramer, Kai Rivers	Detroit Country Day School
Senior	Recycling For A Future	News/Sports/Magazine Program	Best News/Sports Feature	Brian Farstvedt, Tyler Battershell	Lake Orion High School
Senior	Saving Lake St. Clair	Documentary/Event		Rachel Goodman	Troy Athens High School
Elem - Junior	Animals Being Bros	Animation		The 5th grade students of Mrs. Thomas, Mrs. O'Rourke and Mrs. Pardington	Beverly Elementary School
Elem - Junior	International Marble Races IMR	Other (including experimental)	Castorri Elem/Junior Audience Choice Award	John Burns	Long Meadow Elementary School (Troy)
Elem - Junior	Welcome to Animation Camp	Animation		Students of Dearborn's Lindbergh and DuVall Elementary Schools - 2017 DAFT Animation Camp	Lindbergh and DuVall Elementary Schools - Dearborn
Elem - Junior	Color	Animation		Jerry Xia, Ian Plansker, Atticus Henry	Pierce Middle School (Grosse Pointe)
Elem - Junior	DREAM BIG	Public Service Announcement		Dominic Barrett, Morgan Kirby, Korneel'yus Turner, Elina Villemure and Olivia Cantwell.	Downriver Detroit Student Film Consortium
Elem - Junior	Inside the Artist's Mind	Animation		Students of Dearborn's Lindbergh and DuVall Elementary Schools - 2017 DAFT Animation Camp	Lindbergh and DuVall Elementary Schools - Dearborn
Elem - Junior	The Bosnian War (1992-1995)	Documentary/Event		Marcus Rampin	Larson Middle School (Troy)
Elem - Junior	Segregation Through History	Narrative Film (short or feature excerpt)		Jai-Lauryn Dearing, Owen Domzalski, Ashlyn Johnson, Luc Michaud, Emma Stricker	Pierce Middle School (Grosse Pointe)
Elem - Junior	Take On Me	Music Video		A'kos Choinski, Alesio Ziu, Roman Muscillo, Ben Dyer	Baker Middle School - Troy School District
Elem - Junior	Lil Bobcat - iPad Misuse PSA	Public Service Announcement		Atharva Dharphale, Shaun Dantas, Alex Justice, Matthew Yemmans, Adrian Officer	Baker Middle School - Troy School District
Elem - Junior	Solo and Ensemble News Package	Documentary/Event		Lisa Hoy, Angela Woytowich	Novi Middle School
Elem - Junior	Magic Ruler	Animation		Students of Dearborn's Lindbergh and DuVall Elementary Schools - 2017 DAFT Animation Camp	Lindbergh and DuVall Elementary Schools - Dearborn
Elem - Junior	Predator & Prey: Opioids' savage effect on our community	Documentary/Event		Trojan TV Staff	East Middle School (Traverse City)

50th Festival Winners!

A free Canon DSLR camera kit for Detroit Catholic Central High School--drawn from all school memberships (link to Membership levels)
All entries were eligible for festival drawings of free professional gear
$250 ProCam gift cards for category winners (PSA, music video, etc.)
$500 cash prize from the Maple Theatre for best narrative film to Drew Hartley, Chase Arnett, Chlor Holderbaum, Taylor Minto and Cameron Hartley for "Interlinked" from the Genesee Career Institute
$500 cash prize best documentary--the 3rd annual John Prusak Visionary Award to William Higbie of University Liggett for "Painting the Town"
Partial scholarship to College for Creative Studies to Becca Messner of Royal Oak High School
Partial scholarship to Lawrence Technological University to Hunter Valtema of Careerline Tech Center (Holland)
Full one-year scholarship to Specs Howard School of Media Arts to Brianna Bossler of Careerline Tech Center (Holland)
Full one-year scholarship to the Motion Picture Institute to Conner McBain of L'Anse Creuse North High School

Festival Media and Info

View Festival Program

Download Press Release

Cool DAFT Things About April 28th's 50th Michigan Student Film Festival

2018 Festival Sponsors & Special Friends

Especially, Elliot Wilhelm, Larry Baranski, Margaret Thomas, Matthew Breneau, Paul Bancel, Jody Huellmantel, Gavin Lynch and Catherine Lauerman.

Special thanks to Chris Weagel, DAFT’s webmaster, Ted Houser, Show Reel-Editor, Ruth Daniels of the Maple Theater, Michelle Lawton Mullen of Buddy’s Pizza,

Bill Wolbrink & the staff and students at Careerline Tech Center (Holland).