SHREVEPORT – Hunter Gorman just got his braces off, which feels weird, and his short movie accepted into the Louisiana Film Festival, which feels good, he says. “At my age, it’s not a premiere show in Hollywood,” the humble 12-year-old filmmaker, who just turned 13, said. “But it’s really nice to see people watch what you do and like what you do.”
Gorman made “Rock Solid Camps,” a documentary and music video about summer camps at Summer Grove Baptist Church. It will be screened this weekend at Centenary College’s Kilpatrick Auditorium.
The film festival was to screen three dozen short films Saturday, including comedies, dramas, documentaries and experimental works made by students in grades kindergarten through 12.
This year’s festival attracted 70 submissions in all. Thirty-seven films were made by Louisiana students. The remaining came from as far away as San Francisco, Seattle, Boston and Pennsylvania.
“We have a lot more films that deal with sociological issues,” said Chris Jay, a festival co-organizer who works at the Robinson Film Center. “We have topics ranging from illegal immigration to illegal drinking to interracial dating.”
Jay said the festival also features more advanced animation than in the past.
In 2005, the first-year festival attracted 14 submissions. In 2006, it attracted 40. The rising numbers are a good sign to festival co-organizer and Centenary College professor Michelle Glaros.
“It demonstrates something that we’ve been saying all along, but we didn’t have proof of,” Glaros said. “These young filmmakers are making films, but they don’t have a lot of places to show them.”
This also is the first year the festival has had to turn down submissions.
“We would love to screen them all, but the festival would last all week,” Glaros said. Being selective might encourage students to up their game. “I do hope that it will raise the bar a little in terms of polishing up their work. I hope it doesn’t discourage anybody.”
For Hunter, a Caddo Middle Magnet seventh grader, it’s an opportunity to continue to hone his passion. He has been interested in movies ever since his father, Chris Gorman, showed him how to hook up the home stereo and DVD. Hunter showed a strong interest in electronics.
When Hunter’s parents bought him a DV camera and a home computer with video editing software, Hunter got hooked.
“I knew from day one that Hunter had a special talent for the arts (and) film,” his father said. “In a town and a state where sports dominate, Hunter has found his niche.”
Hunter said he started by taking his camera outside to film his dogs, and he films ants while his mother gardened and his younger brother Lee playing baseball. He now has two cameras, which he uses to document his brother’s games.
