The time for the University of Central Missouri Foreign Language Film Festival is near, so students are busy making plans for their films. The French, Spanish, and Chinese classes are to create short films and present them at the Film Festival. Students are bursting with creativity and are sure to have award-winning films.
“I feel like it’s a language rite of passage at this school, every language does this at some point. I have friends in all three languages and we’re all doing it. My group has 2 people from BTVN and I know a lot of people stress about editing, but I don’t think that will be a problem for my group,” Izzi Osman (‘24) said.
Other Kansas City schools like Lincoln College Preparatory Academy also present films. Those schools mostly compete in the French and Spanish language sections, but Barstow always wins awards for Chinese language films.
The event offers so much more than just a chance to show off the films. Last year, there were a few trivia Kahoots where students would team up and answer trivia questions about different languages. Along with that, there was a film festival within the film festival. Students would create short films while at UCM and submit them in a small competition.
The process for the Film Festival is already in motion, students have started brainstorming and creating scripts for the festival. On top of showing their language skills, students showcase their acting, scriptwriting, and editing skills. This project is certainly a testament to their abilities.
This project is new to freshmen Chinese students, so it can be a little daunting, but once the script is written everything else flows smoothly.
“I am very excited to make a movie! My tones are not very good, so I hope people can understand. My idea is kind of hard to explain. My movie is about balloons and it’s somewhat sad,” Rachel Jacobs (‘26) said.
This is not, however, a new experience for sophomores, and the juniors and seniors have certainly gotten the hang of it by now.
“Last year was so much fun, so I am so excited for this. Anita and I are going to make a great film. It starts on Halloween night, Anita comes over and we play chess, but it is haunted chess. It won’t let us leave til one of us dies,” Alison Broderick (‘23) said.
However, for Spanish, students are introduced to this project when they are in Spanish IV. Most of the juniors who are taking Spanish have to do the project. French students are introduced to this project in French Topics, a class that mainly consists of seniors.
“I think it’s a really good project [for] getting to express yourself in a language you want to learn and in the way you want to. My idea is a spin-off of another Spanish film, which was a mafia film. My spin-off is going to be a detective noir type,” Finnian Waldron (‘23) explained.
This is a fun project and a nice break from the classic schoolwork, but it still challenges students to think and put their language knowledge to the test.
