TD Christian student's short wins $2K prize at Vaughan film festival
'The Other Side,' by student filmmaker Alexander Stevens, garnered $2,000 Best Student Film prize for Woodbridge private school

yorkregion.com
May 16, 2017
By Adam Martin-Robbins

A flick about bullying snagged top honours in the student category at the Vaughan International Film Festival.

The Other Side by Toronto District Christian High School filmmaker Alexander Stevens, and starring some of his fellow students, garnered the $2,000 Best Student Film prize.

The nearly three-minute film shows how a bully’s perspective changes after literally walking in the shoes of a student he picks on.

The winner was announced Monday, May 15 following the screening of 17 short films by students from high schools across the GTA at Cineplex Cinemas Vaughan (formerly Colossus).

Adventures of a Stickman, an animated short by Kate Allsebrook, was a runner up for Best Student Film.

Allsebrook, a student at St. Edmund Campion Secondary School in Brampton, was thrilled to have her film screened as part of the festival.

“I’m excited,” she said prior to the screening. “It’s really not often that you get to see your film on a big screen, so it’s really crazy.”

Kathryn Blaho, the filmmaker behind the horror flick The Countdown, echoed that sentiment.

“It’s kind of surreal,” said Blaho, a Grade 11 student at St. Elizabeth Catholic High School in Thornhill.

“I come to Colossus to watch other movies so it’s going to be really cool to see my own film on the screen.”

Tom McCarthy, an executive vice president with Sony Pictures, flew up from California to attend the film festival.

And he was impressed by the students’ creations.

“These are the filmmakers of the future and they have so many great ideas and ways of creating their content,” McCarthy said. “The films that I see from the students’ standpoint are very sharp, very mature. The production value, the content, the script, everything is so above par that studios could actually learn from the students.”

The four-day festival of short films wraps up Thursday, May 18 with the awards ceremony at Terrace Banquet Centre.

Actor Enrico Colantoni, a Nobleton resident, will be presented with the 2017 Independent Leader Award at the ceremony.

Awards will also be handed out for best film, best actor, best actress, best director, best documentary and best cinematography.

For more information, visit vaughanfilmfestival.com.