By Christy Wolyniak, Intern

From its humble Ballard roots, the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) has exploded into the world's largest youth film festival, with filmmakers 22 and younger converging to network with other filmmakers and showcase their unique films.

Founded by Ballard High School alum, Jesse Harris and two friends, NFFTY was created with the intention to screen a handful of films; beginning with 14 film screenings in 2007, it has now grown to 225 films that are screened in NFFTY’s fourth annual event.

“Demographics [at film festivals were] less than 5 percent [of people] under 25. No young people were going to film festivals. However, our [NFFTY’s] demographics are roughly 67 percent young people. It’s cool they can go see something made by their peers and people their age, and they get inspired. Want-to-be filmmakers come to the festival; others come because they heard we screen really great films,” said Harris.

High school and college students from across the globe journey out to Seattle for the film-packed festival that draws participants from over 15 countries and 30 states.

“I didn’t realize coming into it [that] young people are capable of work as good as what adults can accomplish. I realized– like chess or music – filmmaking is an area where young people can be prodigies,” said Matt Lawrence, Video Production teacher at Ballard High School.

“If given the right tools, encouragement, and guidance, it’s really astounding what they can do. Anyone who doesn’t think that should go to NFFTY.”

This year NFFTY will feature ten films from 30 Ballard High School students.

“I think that our access to get out how we feel in any way is something that has always been an issue – the more ways they can do that the better. Film festivals are a part of that, because film is how we express ourselves. We express our views on society by making a film about it,” said Dylan Miller.

Miller worked with Sydney Jarol on “Without Our Cars”, a story about Seattle’s culture and alternate forms of transportation, which will be featured in NFFTY Earth. Miller will also be participating in this year’s “48 Hour Film Off” in which teams of students from various schools must work together to create a film using a prompt, a line of dialogue, and a prop. Miller said she is very nervous, but also excited about the “48 Hour Film Off” as she is a team leader.

Rikke Heinecke’s film “Signs” will be shown on Opening Night. She is excited to see how people react to the film, and feels it is an honor to have her film played on Opening Night. According to Heinecke, the film is about a homeless man who is pessimistic about his life and the world around him, but when strangers begin giving him things that inspire him, he starts to change his outlook on life and results follow.

“The underlying moral is: if you want something, you have to put in a lot of effort to get it and you can’t just sit there and wait for it to come to you. [It also reflects me], as I’ve tried to put myself out there beyond what’s expected,” explained Heinecke.

Jarol said she's been looking forward to NFFTY all year.

"It is way better than Christmas. The amazing people you meet, the phenomenal films... it's all just really inspiring,' she said.

"I think that NFFTY is the future of independent film. With all that talent and energy just radiating out from each and every participant, how could it not be?”

NFFTY offers a unique experience for young people everywhere, as young filmmakers receive the opportunity to network with other filmmakers as well as producers in the industry.

A film Harris recommends seeing is “8MMTPE”. This Singapore film will be featured in the International Showcase. According to Harris, it is about a teen who works at a DVD rental store and falls in love with a girl while also working for gangster drug dealers. According to Harris, it’s a well-made love story and action film and one of his favorite films in the festival.

“As a filmmaker, you make films not for yourself, but for other people. [There’s a] rush of nervousness and excitement to screen this thing you’ve been working on in front of other people. I still get that nervous feeling in the back of the theater as I look at how the audience is reacting to the film. There’s a cool energy knowing the films being screened can’t be watched online, because [you know] you can’t see [them] anywhere else,” said Harris.

Over 700 films were submitted to this year’s festival, with 225 making the cut. According to nffty.org, 10,000 fans are expected to attend. Sponsors include Bing, Volvo Cars of North America, Nike 6.0, and IMBEE.

“If you’re local, [it’s easy to] take things for granted; [many] don’t realize how special they are. [NFFTY’s] only been around for 5 yrs, but I can’t imagine Seattle without NFFTY,” said Lawrence.

The festival will begin on the morning of Thursday, April 28 and runs through the Sunday, May 1. Opening Night tickets are sold out, but you can still snag individual festival passes on nffty.org.

For a complete list of the Ballard High School films in NFFTY visit www.bhsvideo.blogspot.com.