The ten students for the 2011 Reel Voices met all together for the first time (well, 8 of them met already for the LA Film Festival last Saturday-- which deserves another blog entry by the way!) in the conference room of SDAFF's beautiful new home in Point Loma. We began this first meeting with introductions of ourselves, while we imagined how after the next 8 weeks, we will be introducing our short documentaries to the class, then to a big crowd of audience in October during the San Diego Asian Film Festival...
By the way, this is Jini, the Reel Voices assistant. I keep writing "We, we we!!" as if I am one of the students...
I guess I'm just very excited and feel like I am one of them, and that the documentaries the students will produce are all mine!!!
It's true. I've only met the students twice now but I already feel that they are a sweet and smart bunch, and will love to get to know well every single one of them.
By the way, Brian Hu, SDAFF's new artistic director, was our guest speaker today and discussed about "Film appreciation"-- he shared with us what his "a-ha!" film moments were, and how some films can impact a person on a very personal level. Reel Voices was definitely lucky to have him speak for us; it was a priceless lecture that many would highly enjoy, and now I cannot wait until Jason Low, my fellow assistant's guest lecture next class time.
From Skype interviews with filmmakers, to conversations with filmmaker mentors, and from movie theater field trips to film critiquing sessions... this is all that Reel Voices has to look forward to, and it does not even include the documentary filming and editing part. Our director, Mike Watson, has indeed prepared a lot of enriching filmmaking-goodness for the team.
Anthony, Alex, Asha, Camille, Jesus, Jose, Kaylor, Marissa, Marygian, and Michelle -- these are the lucky high school students of San Diego this summer (and we're lucky to have you!).
Care to share any words of encouragement or advice for us? Even comments green with envy will be accepted. We understand. :)
Best of luck to the new Reel Voices class!! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm suuuuper jealous that I'm not a high school student because I would have loved to participate in this kind of program! Looking forward to seeing their work in October!
aha- thanks for that. visit us sometime!
ReplyDeleteGood luck to these kids, Reel Voices seems like an amazing program, if I was still in high school, I'd totally join the program. SDAFF should have one for college students haha.
ReplyDeleteyeah. AND for recent grads.
ReplyDeleteI wish there was a program like Reel Voices back in my hometown when I was in high school.. I'm glad this opportunity is giving these students a chance to shine and become aspiring filmmakers! And I agree, SDAFF should have a program for college students.. AND graduates! It's never too late to learn right? As long as you have the right resources! It's great to see that SDAFF is inspiring and opening doors for the younger ones every year!
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