Shawnee Mission South Team Wins Kansas 24-Hour Film Festival

Shawnee Mission South Team Wins Kansas 24-Hour Film Festival
Shawnee Mission School District

 Elli Kirsch, Manahil Fatima, Maia Chhatriwalla, and Ally Kempf are Shawnee Mission South High School’s first video production team to win the Kansas 24-Hour Film Festival. These Advanced Video students are part of KSMS, a student-run audio and video program overseen by Caroline Ewing. In the past, the SM South program has primarily focused on broadcast journalism and athletics. But, knowing the girls had interest in filmmaking, Ewing challenged the team to participate in this competition. 

 The rules of the festival required the students to write, film, edit and produce a three-minute film in just 24 hours based only on the prompt, “the worst thing to happen is getting exactly what you want.” They also had to include specific elements such as a screen door slamming, a worm’s-eye-view shot, and props like a water bottle and leaves on the ground.

“At first, we were really excited. We were planning out everything. Every single shot we were going to get, where we were going to go,” explained Manahil.

 But, after the initial surge of excitement, the team struggled to find common ground creatively.  “We were getting fed up with each other,” said Manahil. “We got to the editing and that was, like, the hardest part for everybody, because we split up the editing part. Each one of us did, like, a different scene. And we just wanted to go home, and we just wanted to go to sleep, and everybody was so tired, exhausted.”

 Initially, they ambitiously aimed to weave four separate storylines into their film but had to condense their vision due to time constraints.

 “If we had focused on two stories, the pacing would have been better," Manahil shared. "But the experience taught us to dream big and adapt."

 With the hours ticking away, teamwork became essential to get the final product ready for submission. 

 "We were at my house until 10 p.m.," Maia explained. "Then I went back to school to access the server and worked until 11. I was up at 5 a.m. the next day to finish the sound design."

 “I think the hardest part was this was South’s first time competing in this,” said Ally “So we didn’t really know what to do or how to do anything and I think if we did know that, we would have been less ambitious.”

 Despite the hurdles, the team delivered a compelling final product that earned them first place among 28 other state-wide entries. 

 “It was definitely very inspiring […] when you look back and like, you can also kind of see your growth,” explained Maia. “Especially because we only had 24 hours, you can kind of see everything you would have done differently, which is definitely motivating for the future because it's like, oh, now I can do this. It makes you want to do more.”

 Beyond technical skills, the competition also solidified their passion for filmmaking. "I’ve always wanted to be a director," said Maia. "This experience reinforced that."

 This groundbreaking team and their success are particularly noteworthy in a field historically dominated by male participants.

 "We’re pioneers," Ally said proudly. "It’s exciting to set a precedent for others."

 

Students from Shawnee Mission South High School won the Kansas 24-hour Film Festival with this video following the prompt: "the worst thing to happen is getting everything you want."