Magna Carta Film Contest Features Six TFS Student Works At Sept 28 Gala Screening
Six Toronto Film School Film Production Diploma students have had their short films selected to screen at the City of Toronto’s Magna Carta Student Film Contest Gala Screening.
This student film contest aligns with the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta; a foundational document that is a cornerstone for democracy, human rights and justice in Canada and around the world. As part of the Canada-wide celebrations of the 800th anniversary, students from recognized film schools across the Greater Toronto Area were invited to make a 0:30 to 3:00 short film reflecting on their interpretation of the legacy of the Magna Carta. Of the many submissions, 12 were selected for the Gala Screening, among those chosen were six short films by Toronto Film School students.
Featured at the free Magna Carta Student Film Contest Gala Screening on Sept. 28 at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, will be:
“Happy Birthday Magna Carta” by Josie La Corte
“Equals” by Elina Miyake
“Magna & Carta” by Petros Neguse
“Sandcastles” by Kyle Perry
“Porch Swing Days” by Charlotte Johnson
“Protecting You“ by Fabian Eggenschwiler
Term 3 Film Production student Josie La Corte explained that her film, Happy Birthday Magna Carta, depicts just that, a birthday party for the Magna Carta.
The film features a 9-year-old boy, Santo Beninato, who is explaining how to throw a birthday party for the Magna Carta and intersperses facts about the Magna Carta, like that is Latin for “great paper”.
“Santo is just a ball of energy,” La Corte explained. “As soon as we put a camera in front of him, he was on and we couldn’t stop laughing.”
She made the two-minute film with the help of some of her classmates and her co-director Barbara Goutte. This is the first time she will have a film shown on a big screen and said she can’t wait to share that experience with her family and friends.
“I think it is an amazing opportunity it was an amazing experience,” La Corte said. “I’m excited to do bigger things and change the world. Having this under my belt is another thing that says, ‘hey I can do this.’”
Term 2 Film Production student Kyle Perry, who wrote and directed the film Sandcastle, said he wanted his Magna Carta tribute to light hearted, fun and something young people could relate to.
To that end he created a film featuring two young actors, aged 12 and 10, who get in a fight over a sandcastle.
“The moral of the story is when you building something its better to have help,” Perry explained. “The idea came from three students brainstorming ideas and we really wanted kids in the film and reflect the Magna Carta.”
Although Perry has had work in film festivals before, he said he is looking forward to the screening and he hopes this is just the beginning of many more film festivals to come.
In addition to having the having their work screen at the gala, the top 10 filmmakers will be invited to a master’s workshop hosted by the DGC, ACTRA and the City of Toronto Film Office.
During the Gala, the top three films will be awarded cash prizes: First Prize $5000, Second Prize $2000 and Third Prize $500. Those winning films will go on to be showcased to tens of thousands of people during the Magna Carta 2015 exhibition at the Fort York Visitor’s Centre Oct. 4 to Nov. 7, 2015.
The competition is a joint venture supported by Toronto’s Film, TV and Digital Media Office and its Museums and Heritage Services, ACTRA, the DGC and Hot Docs.
Gala Screening is Sept. 28 at Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, 509 Bloor St, Toronto at 9:30pm, doors open at 9:00pm. Tickets are free and available at the door. Toronto Film School students from all programs are encouraged to come out and support their fellow students.
To find out more about the Toronto Film School and its programs click here.
