SEQUIM — Zavier Zarit, a senior at Sequim High School, has been awarded first place for the video he filmed and submitted in this year’s Sequim Student Film Festival.
As the overall winner, Zarit will receive a $1,000 college scholarship he will use to pay for tuition at Western Washington University this fall.
“Honestly, I did not expect it at all,” Zarit said, adding that it was an honor.
The festival was held Friday evening in the Sequim High School auditorium.
Zarit’s film, “So That No One Goes Hungry,” documented efforts by the Sequim Food Bank to provide food to the community’s residents in need.
The film can be viewed online at http://tinyurl.com/PDN-FilmFest.
Zarit also won the first-place Sequim Sunrise Rotary “Community Service Award,” a $500 cash prize, while juniors Sebastian Goettling and Matthew Schock were awarded second-place Rotary award for their film “WAG,” splitting an award of $250.
Zarit’s three-minute film was one of nine short films submitted by Sequim School District students this year.
All films were less than six minutes in length.
The second-place film festival award went to Sequim High School senior Paul McMulling for his movie “Storage,” earning him a $750 scholarship.
The third-place award was a tie between sixth-graders Kalli Wiker and McKenna Hastings for “Seahawks Super Bowl Heartbreak,” and seventh-grader Zoe Yates for “Journey to the Core,” a stop-motion Lego film.
All three student at Sequim Middle School will receive a $500 scholarship.
Wiker and McKenna also won the “Elkie” Award, as chosen by the audience who voted for their favorite film.
In addition, Wiker was awarded Best Actress for “Seahawks Super Bowl Heartbreak.”
Wiker wrote the film score’s lyrics and sang and played the piano for the piece — an ode to the disappointment Seahawks fans felt during the last-minute loss of this year’s Super Bowl.
Sequim Middle School seventh-grader Nicholas D’Amico was chosen as Best Actor for his film, “Facts and Info About Century Link [Stadium],” which included footage of the inside of the stadium and some of the games played there last season.
Elna Kawal, film festival chairwoman, was impressed with all nine entries this year.
“The actual filming and technology part of it has been well done.
________
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, and at cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.