Two GMCS students participate in New Mexico film festival
New Mexico students are getting a chance to show off what they can do behind a camera. Film Prize Jr. originally started in 2016 in Louisiana. The competition allows students ages 14-18 to turn in films between three to 10 minutes long.
The Gallup-McKinley County Schools has two students from Hiroshi Miyamura High School competing in Film Prize Jr.
Aloni Herrea’s, a 16-year-old sophomore, film is called “My Other Half.”
In an interview with the Sun, Herrea explained that the film is about a girl who has just entered her senior year of high school. She’s always been quieter than her peers and more reserved, and she wants to become a more outgoing person, so she creates this other personality. Finally, however, she realizes that the change might not be what she wanted.
Herrea said her passion for filmmaking started when she took a broadcasting class back in middle school.
“Ever since then I’ve always had a big interest in film and putting movies together,” Herrera said. “So, this year when my film and digital media teacher asked me if I wanted to do a competition film I jumped on the opportunity to do something a little bit more advanced than what I’d been used to.”
Megan James, a 17-year-old junior at Miyamura High School, is also competing in Film Prize Jr. Her film is called “The Sound of Drums.”
James explained that her film is about a boy on a Native American reservation who is trying to figure out his passion in life. He soon meets another boy who reminds him that he’s still young and has time to figure out what he loves. By the end of the movie, the main character finds his passion: powwow.
“The bigger message behind the story is about how hard it is for kids, especially on the reservation, how hard it is for them to navigate through life, especially being secluded on a reservation,” James said.
James said that the film has given her a chance to learn more about her Native culture and connect with her family. Her cousin Rising Sun Dancing Eagle Chief plays the main character.
“I think my favorite part has been learning more about my culture and being around so much indigenous excellence [...],” James said.
She said she hopes her film shows people what it’s like to live on a Native reservation.
Both girls wrote and directed their films. But, as first-time filmmakers, they faced many challenges.
In James’s film, the characters play chess at one point. So she had to make sure each move lined up scene after scene and that every take was at the same angle.
Herrera’s main character talks to herself while looking into a mirror, which provided another challenge with angles.
Herrera encourages anyone interested in filmmaking to try something like the Film Prize Jr. competition.
“Anybody else who is interested, totally check stuff out like this and try out whatever makes you happy,” Herrera said. “Try anything because there’s always opportunities […] even out here in Gallup.”
Tine Hayes was the teacher who helped the girls create their films. He teaches a class on filmmaking as part of the district’s film and digital media pathway. When he first heard about the competition, he looked at some of his students who were excited about film and who he saw as go-getters.
He provided the equipment and helped the girls with the scriptwriting and filming when and if they needed help.
“This type of film project contest is not for every student, but for students who are really interested in and motivated by film making this really raises the level of their engagement,” Hayes said.
The students had to turn their projects in by April 4. The films will be screened at the Film Prize Jr. New Mexico Festival on April 22 and 23, and then the awards ceremony will take place on April 24.
By Molly Ann Howell
Sun Correspondent