SCVi Charter School film class, led by IB Film Facilitator Ramon Hamilton, has earned Best Festival Film at the national Doko Film Fest in South Carolina for Classroom #108, a six-minute learner film written and directed by Abigail Blasberg and Luke Rigdon.
The film was the result of a Film One class assignment from Hamilton. Learners were able to choose their subject matter and whether to work as a whole class or in smaller groups. Hamilton named only one restriction: The film had to tell a story using no dialogue.
The learners who produced Classroom #108 decided to work on a film as one class and voted on story lines. When two story options showed an about-equal response, the learners themselves found a win-win. They took the two issues they wanted to address — online cyberbullying and school shootings — and combined them. The resulting film immerses viewers in a six-minute scenario in which a victim becomes the bully and the bully becomes the victim.
At Hamilton’s encouragement, learners regularly submit their work to film festivals. Luke Rigdon began submitting Classroom #108 to film festivals during the summer of 2019. On February 21, 2020, the national Doko Film Fest in South Carolina notified Rigdon that Classroom #108 had been nominated among 144 films in various categories. On March 16, the film was named Best Festival Film.
SCVi-iLEAD is proud of the Classroom #108 filmmakers’ collaboration, hard work, and recognition. Each learner contributed to their film’s success, including the following: producer Arielle Gottesman; writers and directors Abby Blasberg and Luke Rigdon; cinematographer Bobby Stewart; editor Seanray Pech; assistant editors Julian Bates-Harris, Anthony Figueroa, Chase Patterson, and Mark Robles; sound designers Isaac Allen Garcia and Nathan DeGuzman; music composer Mark Stewart; and lead actors Arielle Gottesman, Sam Grosinger, and Nathan DeGuzman.
The award-winning short film Classroom #108 can be viewed here. However, the filmmakers caution viewers that, due to the difficult subject matter, the film is not suitable for viewers under 13 years of age.