George School Shines at Bridge Film Festival

George School film students won four out of the five awards at the Twentieth Annual Bridge Film Festival on Friday, May 3, 2019. The Cougars received the awards for Documentary, Public Service Announcement, New Media, and the coveted Spirit of the Festival films.

The twenty-five entries in the 2019 Festival were produced by twelve Friends’ schools. “The host of the Twentieth Bridge Film Festival was Alexei Brusiloff who extemporaneously named the Oscar-like awards ceremony, ‘The Georgies.’ It turned out to be a prescient nickname,” said Paul Romano from Brooklyn Friends School. Alexei’s inspiration for calling the awards Georgies was George Fox, founder of the Religious Society of Friends.

The Spirit of the Festival award went to Julia Carrigan ’20 and the other students behind Power in a Whisper: Rodney Glasgow, a film that highlights the social justice mission of educator and activist Rodney Glasgow. The Spirit award goes to the entry that best exemplifies the mission of the festival. Entries are evaluated on communication skill, creativity, technical quality, Quaker relevancy and originality.

“Powerful film! Not only is what Rodney shared powerful, but the way you told the story of moving from indifference in class to activated by the assignment was an important piece to the film,” said one of the judges about Power in a Whisper: Rodney Glasgow. “You model the power that experiential education can have on students. Well done.”

Peace Together by Shumpei Chosa ’19 won in the Documentary category. “Really wonderful film. It was very touching,” said one of the judges. “I came away moved by the beauty of the message and how it was told with such simplicity and dignity.”

Integrity by Alaina Clabbers ’20 and Zach Bohrer ’21 won in the New Media category. “Amazing filming and use of b-roll,” said one of the judges. “Your interviews produced very strong examples! Excellent film.”

Simplicity by Wabsono Bao ’21 won the PSA category. “I thought this was a truly professional PSA and the film was simple and direct. I can see that it advances Quaker values in a very different way,” said one of the judges. “I’ve been reviewing films for years, and I think this is the first one I have seen on decluttering. As a former high school teacher, I could think of many students (and teachers) who could have used this advice.”

The Bridge Film Festival’s mission is to provide a forum for dialog, learning, and exchange of ideas of commonality and diversity. Serving student filmmakers across an international network of Quaker educational institutions, the festival is committed to nurturing purposeful filmmaking that communicates messages of conscience and gives voice to student expression and recognizes creative achievement.