Yellowknife (May 21/04) - Sir John Franklin high school students showed off their film work last night.

Though the high school's student council have organized film festivals within the school in the past few years, this year the event moved to the Capitol theatre.

Media studies teacher Arnold Krause said he wasn't trying to create a rivalry with the highly successful St. Patrick's film festival, which is also held at the Capitol theatre. The students at Sir John simply wanted a chance to see their films on the big screen.

"It sounds funny, but the kids really want to sit and eat popcorn and drink juice and watch their movies," said Krause.

The 14 student-made videos ranged in length from two minutes to 18 minutes and spanned many genres -- sports, drama, comedy and even animation.

Students from Grades 9 to 12 used school equipment or their own cameras to make their masterpieces.

Morgan Barrett and Miranda Booth were still editing their video "Go Ask Alice" Tuesday afternoon.

"It's the true story of a girl who kept a diary while she was on drugs," said Booth.

Booth and Barrett based their script on the book of the same name. The two won an award at a recent national competition for their anti-racism video "Regarde a l'interieur."

Two other Sir John students, Ryan Chenkie and Seamus Braden, won the NWT division of a Workers' Compensation Board public service announcement contest.

Other films in the festival included "Visage," a drama by Tim Robinson; "The First Flower," an animated film by Aidan Cartwright; and something called "Apocalyptic Confectionery."

Krause said "a scary amount" of Sir John's filmmakers go on to post-secondary studies in film.

That's why the money raised from the ticket sales for last night's screening will go towards establishing a post-secondary media studies scholarship.