Alta Sierra Intermediate School and El Diamante High School took home the big prizes during the Slick Rock Student Film Festival awards special that aired on ABC30 this past Sunday evening. Alta Sierra won Middle School Best of Show with a documentary on food insecurity in Clovis Unified, while El Diamante’s blockbuster Incursion won High School Best of Show.
The festival had 16 film categories and over 300 film entries were submitted from 35 Central Valley middle schools and high schools. These films represent the work of over 500 students from schools in Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, and Tulare counties.
In addition to the “best of show” and category award winners, over 250 of the submitted films received “Premiere Cut” honors. Links to the winners and “Premiere Cut” films are available at tcoe.org/SlickRock.
Slick Rock Student Film Festival winners were:
- Best of Show – Middle School: How Clovis Unified Confronts Child Hunger and Child Food Insecurity in the Pandemic, Alta Sierra Intermediate School (Isabelle Balubar – Documentary)
- Best of Show – High School: Incursion, El Diamante High School (Noah Lillywhite, Kai Willey, Sam Zurek – Blockbuster)
- Alcohol/Drug Prevention PSA: What Alcohol Does to You, Bullard High School (Sean Linneman)
- Animation: Orange Beasts in the Clouds, El Diamante High School (Mario Landeros)
- Blockbuster – Middle School: Spy War, Fairmont K-8 School (Allison Horn, Sadie Horn, Megan Johnson, Kaelyn Johnson, Ashlyn Johnson)
- Blockbuster – High School: Incursion, El Diamante High School (Noah Lillywhite, Kai Willey, Sam Zurek)
- Documentary – Middle School: How Clovis Unified Confronts Child Hunger and Child Food Insecurity in the Pandemic, Alta Sierra Intermediate School (Isabelle Balubar)
- Documentary – High School: Edmond Wysinger, Redwood High School (William Youngquist, Emerson Pressley)
- Flavored Tobacco/Vaping Public Service Announcement (PSA): Vacate the Vape, Spring Valley Elementary School (Kaydynn Ellis, Addysen Nielsen)
- General Advertisement – Middle School: El Tarasco Mexican Cuisine Advertisement, St. Paul’s School (Donya Hassanshahi, Camila Espinoza)
- General Advertisement – High School: Stafford’s Chocolates, Monache High School (Roberto Cadena Parra, Sophi Orduno, Andrea Fernandez)
- General Public Service Announcement (PSA) – Middle School: Teen Anxiety PSA, Alta Sierra Intermediate School (Charlie Bath)
- General Public Service Announcement (PSA) – High School: Exercise/Mental Health PSA, Minarets High School (Hayden Livingston, Paul Havens, Solon Walker, Conner Hennard, Gianni Bellucci)
- Music Video – Cover: When We Lived in La La Land, Minarets High School – Johanna Ziegler, Dadalus Haynes
- Music Video – Original: Mentality, Mt. Whitney High School (Anneliese Bueno, Jakob Gil)
- News Broadcast: BNN 2021, Buchanan High School (Noah Roberto, Chris Pearce, Gabe Munro, Rylee Gonzales, Blaise Gonda, Nate Long)
- Sports Highlights: Sports Highlights, Redwood High School (Alia Backlund)
- Suicide Prevention PSA: Help is Available, Minarets High School (Jezzy Neuman)
The Slick Rock Student Film Festival is generously sponsored by the following organizations:
- Tulare County Suicide Prevention Task Force
- ABC30
- Tulare County Health & Human Services Agency, Public Health and Mental Health Programs
- Community Media Access Collaborative (CMAC)