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Festival Features Fledgling Filmmakers

It’s not a common opportunity for kids as young as 7. But on Saturday, Feb. 23, 19 children between ages 7 and 18—along with an audience of movie fans—will see their cinematic creations projected onto the big screen of the Academy of Music Theatre in downtown Northampton.

The second annual YouthFilm, a cinema festival for local juvenile filmmakers, invites kids to create, develop and produce their own movies. The resultant works are then shown on the final day of the annual KidsBestFest, a film festival at the Academy of Music, now in its 10th year, that features international children’s films (produced by professional—adult—filmmakers).

KidsBestFest shows movies throughout this week, each day at 2 p.m. (doors open at 1:30). YouthFilm [link] begins at 2:15 p.m. and lasts approximately two hours. Admission to YouthFilm is free to people 18 and under; $3 for those 19 and over.  

YouthFilm was started last year by Erin Molloy, president of the Ada Comstock Scholars at Smith, who also works at the Northampton Arts Council. As a teenager, Molloy, who has a background in photography and film production, had one of her first films, called punk rock’s corrosion, screened at the prestigious Walker Art Center in Minneapolis as part of a series celebrating young women filmmakers.

Upon moving to Northampton and enrolling at Smith in 2006, Molloy, who studied at the Minnesota Center for Arts Education and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, sought to get involved in the local arts scene, she said.

“I wanted to create a film event in Northampton that would provide local youth with an opportunity similar to what I experienced: the chance to have their art shown in a highly respected public venue, and to invite others to engage with the filmmakers as artists, in spite of their young ages,” says Molloy.

Molloy emphasizes that the works shown in YouthFilm represent young people’s views of life. “The children’s films express their interpretation of life as they see it, which is refreshing,” she says. “The festival has become a great vehicle for giving an artistic platform to those under-represented and under-heard youth voices.”

Judging by some of the festival’s titles—Dragon Wars by 7-year-old Joaquin Flores, and Octopi Adventures by three 15-year-olds—some filmmakers’ interpretations of life verge on the fantastical. Other titles—Homeless in Northampton by 16-year-old Jessica Carey and Busted on the Bus by 14-year-olds Monica Hunter-Hart and Jessica Hack-Chabot— reveal more realistic takes.

Now in its second year, YouthFilm has received enthusiastic support from the Northampton Arts Council and from participants and their families, says Molloy.

“The kids have a great time seeing themselves and their work up on the big screen, as do families and friends,” she says. “The Academy of Music Theatre is such an amazing venue to be in, both as a filmmaker and an audience member, and hopefully this event will continue to serve as an inspiration to future filmmakers who think, ‘I could do this!’”