By Cara Sulieman
YOUNG filmmakers will be rubbing shoulders with the stars this week as their creations hit the film festival.
Schools across Edinburgh were asked to submit their drama, documentary and animation films to a competition that plays a staring role in the line up of this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Over 140 films were handed in by 38 institutions, including primary, secondary, nursery and special needs schools.
Forty of the best entries are being screened on Thursday and Friday night following the gala opening of the festival tonight.
The competition has been organised by the film festival, Pilton Video and the City of Edinburgh Council and aims to encourage young people to express themselves through film.
Councillor Marilyne MacLaren, Convener of Education, Children and Families for the council, said: “This was a fantastic project for the young people to stretch their creative skills, come up with new ideas and use their imaginations to the full.
“The International Film Festival is such a prestigious event for the city and I am very proud that our schools will be showing their talent off to a world-wide audience.”
Pilton Video, who put up a panel of young talent to judge the competition, was set up in 1982 to encourage young people to make “powerful and original films”.
Joel Venet, Co-ordinator at Pilton Video, said: “The screenings will give the students’ film’s centre place in the Film Festival, and their hard work, imagination and film making skills are now properly celebrated before their teachers, families and friends.”
And the film festival is proud to be showing the films for the first time and encouraging young talent.
Nicola Kettlewood, Special Projects Manager of at the festival, said: “Young people across Edinburgh have worked very hard to creating a huge numbers of wonderful films for the competition and it is an honour to be able to premiere so many of them at the Festival.”
Family, friends and film fans will be able to see the short films at the weekend, with showing at both 10am and noon on Saturday.
