YELLOWKNIFE - Films by students at both city high schools lit up the big screen at the Capitol Theatre recently during annual festivals.

Liam: Living in a Monday won three awards during the St. Patrick high school film festival. It was named best movie and star Liam Baldwin-O'Neill (pictured) was selected as best actor. It also won the Palm d'Shammy presented by festival organizers. - photo courtesy of St. Patrick high school St. Pats Winners BEST ACTOR - Liam Baldwin-O'Neill for "LIAM: Living in a Monday" BEST ACTRESS - Miranda Tschirhart for "Austin Wowsers: International Man of Mystery" BEST MUSIC VIDEO - "Love Rhymes with Hideous Carwreck" - Joanna Matthews BEST MOVIE - "LIAM: Living in a Monday" - Labyrinth Productions Palm d'Shammy (Best Overall Film) - "LIAM: Living in a Monday" - Labyrinth Productions

Both played to packed houses and featured a variety of films from dramatic pieces to comedy bits, animation, music videos and sports films featuring daring stunts by skateboarders and snowboarders.

First up was the St. Patrick high school festival, which saw the audience vote on best actor and actress, best film, and music video. Film festival staff chose the winner of the top award, the Palm d'Shammy.

Liam: Living in a Monday was named best video, star Liam Baldwin-O'Neill was selected as best actor and the film won the Palm d'Shammy.

According to the students who produced the 15-minute film, it took a full week to complete the production. It was the collaborative effort of Baldwin-O'Neill, Colton Wouters, Lee Elder and Liam Webb. It was a mock-documentary where a film crew followed Baldwin-O'Neill around for a day, from the time he woke up until the time he went to bed.

It was originally made as a project for their English class.

"People thought it was a lot better in the theatre," said Baldwin-O'Neill, who ad-libbed all the lines.

Hart said the festival is a labour of love for both himself and the students.

"I think that students get so involved in the film festival because it gives them a chance to really explore their creative side," he said. "Out of all of the fine arts, video sometimes has the best chance for bursts of spontaneous creativity. In some cases, it's a matter of grabbing a camera and a group of friends and saying, 'Let's do something cool.'"

The following night, films from Sir John Franklin high school were on the big screen.

Rather than choosing from the entries for awards, admission fees collected go toward an annual scholarship for a film student. This year, said organizer Arnold Kraus, $1,180 was collected.

"The part I like about the film festival is that it's over and above the classwork."