Libraries in Grey and Bruce are inviting young people to take part in the 13th Annual Grey Bruce Youth Film Festival.
Coordinator Katie McLeish said Grey and Bruce Libraries are accepting now submissions
"So we accept short, animated or live action films of a maximum of ten minutes in length from students in grades seven through twelve," explained McLeish. "So the deadline for submissions this year is Friday, May 10."
McLeish pointed out students can make a film about whatever topic they like.
"The students pick their own topic," she revealed. "When it comes to our judging, we have a senior first place of People's Choice Award and a junior first place. But yeah, the topics, there's quite a lot of variety there."
McLeish praised the talent of aspiring film makers in the region.
"It's astounding," she explained. "The variety of subject matters. The talent when it comes to editing and shot composition and like, really putting these films together in a professional way is just tremendously impressive."
Winners will receive cash prizes. McLeish said there is a growing interest in the festival.
"Before I started coordinating the festival, I think we tended to have an average of around 13 films per year," she stated. "But last year, we had a tremendous response and there were actually 26 films submitted to the festival. So I'm hoping we continue our upward trends."
McLeish went on to say that last year's film submissions were very diverse.
"I know last year we had a film called Menstruation, which was a witty and poignant exploration of kind of the life disruptions and social stigma experienced by people who menstruate. We had a screwball comedy The Kerfuffle, which was about mistaken identities and a stolen bag of goodies. We had 1000 Times No More which was about ending bullying and embracing ourselves worth. We've had musicals. We had a laundromat musical last year. There was one that called for people to take time during Remembrance Day to Remember Canada's veterans that was The Spirit of Remembrance," noted McLeish. "Another great comedy was the Coming of Uncle Clarence, which was a main character who went on an odyssey to avoid his uncle, but then learned that coming together as a family is always, always worthwhile."
"Menstruation did when our senior first place award and it's also kind of runaway success with the People's Choice Award, too," she said. "And the winner of the junior first place last year was the kerfuffle."
A screening of the selected films will take place at the Owen Sound Galaxy Cinemas in June. Winners will be selected by a panel of judges and announced after the screening.
"Films from the Grey Bruce Youth Film Festival will air on Wightman TV Channel 6 in southern Bruce and Grey Counties and on Rogers TV Grey County Channel 53 in Owen Sound and the surrounding area. Films may also be selected for inclusion at the Meaford International Film Festival," she concluded.
Application forms can be found at all participating public libraries or downloaded from https://www.osngupl.ca/grey-bruce-youth-film-festival/.