On Friday, April 13th,  Mead high school hosted the 5th annual film fest. The film that took first place was “The Legend,” directed by two-time champion Ryan Yancey, who won last year for his film “Braindead Morons.” The second place film was The Ginger Connection pt. 2, and third place went to Fortnite: An Addiction.

Although it didn’t win an award, the film “Upperclassmen”, directed by Sarah Cloke, was exceptional according to Sophomore Anna Hergert. “Not only was it funny but it also made me feel something. It was really nostalgic,” she said.

Another notable film was Izzy Cox’s documentary about the Lindemann family because their daughter, Cally Lindemann, was recently granted her wish, to go to Disney World in Orlando Florida. The film took a personal look at the impact Make-A-Wish had on their family and their daughter.

The film festival is a unique chance for students at Mead High School to showcase their love for film, and according to Mr. Parsons, this is why he loves the festival as well.

“I love showcasing student creativity. The posters we’ve had are made by students, the trophies are made by students, all the films other than when me and Reynolds do one are made by students.” This year, even the live band that played during intermission was a student band.

The film festival also creates a unique community of filmmakers and movie enthusiasts.

Junior Ryan Yancey, the 1st place winner of the past two years, said, “the most amazing thing about it is the community. Everybody getting together even though they don’t really know what they’re doing, getting together and just having a super fun time with it, making whatever they want to do, and it’s always just usually silly and ridiculous. It’s fun to see what your friends made, and what you can do.”

This same sentiment of the importance of the community it has created was echoed by Senior Shyloh Seaver, who was an actor in Tony Romero’s “The Ginger Connection pt.2.” During intermission, she said, “I’ve been really impressed with the films. Their really creative, really fun, and it’s a really cool night because it’s kind of an underrated talent that you get to see and be apart of.”

According to Mr. Parsons, this is what makes the film festival great.

“I think the film fest because it showcases student creativity in a variety of different ways and more every year, build a sense of belonging. There was no film fest before, there was no way for if a kid really likes film or someone like that, for them to showcase their talent. We pay a lot of attention to kids who play sports or kids who get above a 3.75 GPA, and that great, we should applaud those achievements, but I like it when there are more opportunities for kids. And I think, even for the kids who don’t make a film, they come tonight and their there with 150 or 200 kids, I don’t know how many kids will come tonight, it builds a sense of community when they can say ‘oh you remember that film fest, remember last year?’ and just builds this sense of ‘we’re all in this together,'” said Parsons.