By Ella Murray
The newly formed film club, started by senior Alex Fako and advised by Mrs. Duensing, sent the student-created short film, “Manners and Mannerisms” to the IHSA State Film Competition.
“Manners and Mannerisms” won the SSC Blue Division and was the overall winner for both the blue and red divisions. The film was written and directed by Fako and edited by Quinton Peterson. It features actors Fako, Ben Wernio, Everett Obler, Richie Arnold and Peterson.
“I came up with this idea as a result of often experiencing these seemingly meaningless social conflicts,” Fako said. “I felt that student short film competitions lack smart and conflicting humor like [our] script has.”
The film was 100% student produced and created. No adults were allowed to star in or edit the film.
“I’m the one who makes sure they have the equipment, I’m the one they check in with, I’m the one that has to make the final approvals, I send them to the film fests, I put [the film] on YouTube. I’m the support person,” Duensing said.
This year the IHSA State Series rules have changed. In the past, every film would make it to the state competition but this year, all films get sent to a sectional competition where they will be judged. The selected top 12 will then move on to the final state competition. From there, they will be rejudged by new judges, and the state champions will be announced.
Fako and the film club already have some experience with the state competition. During the 2021-22 school year, Fako with alumni Victoria Krol and Natalie Barowsky, won the IHSA State Series with their film “Lilith”. However, they were not able to physically go to state and be recognized for their achievement. Instead, Duensing and the film club hope to have another state championship this year.
Sectionals were on March 16-17, where “Manners and Mannerisms” was chosen to be shown as one of the top 12 films in Illinois. “I expect to win first place. I’ve seen lots of other great films, but when it comes to ours, I think it has a very unique and original storyline,” Peterson said. “Hopefully by winning, it’ll inspire other schools to use their full creative ability, and I expect to see a lot more ideas and techniques used when it comes to making their films special from others.”
The top 12 were shown at the state competition on March 23 in Sterling, Illinois and “Manners and Mannerisms” placed third overall.
