Since 1992, Española Valley High School has had a flare for film. Seventeen years ago, students in the school's TV class took their skills to the streets to gather material for documentaries, which were aired on KRQE-TV's News 101. The exposure fed an interest in filmmaking that soon spread throughout Northern New Mexico.

News 101 was eventually canceled, leaving Española Valley's students with no medium to present their work. Looking for a new and exciting way to show their films, the students at Española High took matters into their own hands six years ago and created a film festival for students in Northern New Mexico. It became the Española Film Festival. The decision to include only Northern New Mexican films was an effort to bring young filmmakers close together.

"As opposed to national or even statewide festivals, it is the only video festival that specifically focuses on the culture of Northern New Mexico," said Ellen Kaiper, teacher of video production at Española Valley High School. The kids who created the festival decided to call it the Española Showing Excellence, or "ESE."

"The word ese is also slang for meaning a homeboy, dude, or friend," Kaiper said. She was there at the birth of the festival and recalls the students' crafty and comical reasoning for the name.

The festival consists of nine different categories that include drama, comedy, animation, experimental, music video, public service announcement and three different types of documentaries: school/local community, Northern New Mexico culture and any other subject. This year ESE got around 80 entries — from McCurdy School, Monte Del Sol, Capital High School, Santa Fe High School, Desert Academy, The Tutorial School, The Academy for Technology and the Classics, Santa Fe Prep, Pojoaque High School, Santa Fe School for the Arts and Sciences, and of course, Española Valley High School. The festival also includes students from home-schooling programs.

"Some of the stuff is very random," Kaiper said. Students enjoy the festival experience, she said, describing it as a soup of "a lot of crazy funny stuff, lots of action and lots of humor, filled with talent, interesting and visually great."

"I love to see it," Kaiper added.

This year, the festival takes place May 1 in the Center for the Arts Auditorium at Northern New Mexico College in Española. Three judges pick three films from each category, which they show and judge in front of a full auditorium. Awards for each category include ribbons and certificates, plus cash prizes of $200 for first place, $150 for second and $100 for third.

It's an honor just to be accepted into the festival, Kaiper said.

Ayla Parker and Meilani Pruitt, both sophomores at Monte Del Sol, were accepted in the documentary category. Their film is based around art at their small charter school. Parker also has a piece that will show in the PSA section.

Although it's their first year entering the festival, they have been taking moving images classes at Monte Del Sol since eighth grade.

"We always talked about entering it, but never did," Pruitt said. Both said they are happy that they finally got the push and submitted their material. The girls also submitted their work into the All Roads Film Festival sponsored by National Geographic, and went home with first place. "It's awesome that we won," Parker said. "I'm really happy and excited to see what happens at Española."

The chance to win some cash for their own pockets was also exciting, they said. The $1,000 they won at All Roads went directly to their school arts program, but ESE winners get to keep the prize money. Both Pruitt and Parker agree that the festival is a great opportunity, and they plan to continue on in their moving images class.

"Coming all the way up to Española isn't always something kids in Santa Fe always do," Kaiper said, "but I think we have a really good festival ... It would be wonderful if people are able to get together and recognize each other's talents."



Jahla Seppanen is a junior at Monte del Sol. You can reach her at jnm747@hotmail.com.