Arlington High Sophomore Wins Film-Festival Poster Contest for Second Straight Year

The following is from the Arlington International Film Festival.

At a reception held on Feb. 7 at the Arlington Town Hall, Arlington International Film Festival (AIFF) organizers celebrated the entries to their third annual poster contest with Brendyn Schneider, master storyteller, presiding as Master of Ceremonies. Submissions from Arlington High School and Arlington Catholic High School students were reviewed by a panel of judges who winnowed the pool to the top-seven finalists. Representing the Arlington Cultural Council, Scott Samenfeld announced the winner of the contest, Marley Jurgensmeyer, and awarded her $500 on behalf of AIFF. The reception also marked the official launch of the 2013 Festival scheduled in October as well as the ‘Call for Entries.’

MEET THE WINNING ARTIST

Marley Jurgensmeyer is a tenth-grade student at Arlington High School and the winner of the AIFF’s Poster Contest for the second year. “One of the things I learned last year is that I am not a fine artist, but there are many ways to communicate visually using clip art and typography. This year I was more aware of searching for the right images to represent both film and the international aspect of the world. I found the film strip pretty quickly and was immediately struck by its simplicity, its use of color and boldness. I also knew that I could incorporate the international aspect in Photoshop using flags to represent the world because they fit the proportions of the boxes on the film strip. One of the things I really like about this poster is that I believe that it fits into the same visual style as my poster last year and hope that helps to promote the AIFF.” Marley said she was surprised to be named the winner for the second year.

MEET THE TOP-SIX FINALISTS

Ballin, Jacob, AHS, 11th Grade

“I am a junior at Arlington High School. I was inspired to participate in the contest because I am interested in graphic design as well as indie filmmaking, and it seemed like it would be fun to make a poster.”

Genard, Lydia, AC, 11th Grade

“The inspiration for my film festival poster came from my design last year. I used the director’s hands from my poster last year but reworked it. I made the background red because I associate red with theater. To make the film aspect more noticeable I added a film strip in the background. I made the text white so it would be easy to see from a distance.”

Griesmer, Sadie, AHS, 11th Grade

“My inspiration for the post was the literal interpretation of film. Just like the film festival is built off of film, I wanted my poster to be literally constructed of film.”

Hall, Galen, AHS, 9th Grade

“I was inspired to enter this contest because if I win it will gain some recognition for my art, and also because I like to have a goal to work towards when creating artwork, such as a contest or assignment. Of course, the cash prize helped to inspire me as well.”

Li, Yangyuchen “Richan,” AC, 12th Grade

“For the poster, the color scheme is green because it represents the land we all live on. The map, obviously, represents the world, symbolizing the international aspect of the Film Festival. The film strip wraps around the map kind of like a play on the phrase ‘films around the world’.”

Linov, Larsen, AHS, 12th Grade

“I am a senior at Arlington High School. Last year my friend, Dylan was a top-five finalist, and his success motivated me to submit a poster design.”