Lyons Township High School wins top honors at silent film festival

Students from Lyons Township High School in La Grange and Western Springs received the award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinema for their silent film submission titled “Pink Lady” at the Halloween Student Silent Film Festival (SSFF) held Oct. 18 at the Tivoli Theatre in Downers Grove.

The LT students who created “Pink Lady” were Maddox McDonald, writer, director and editor, and Elliot Marcoux, assistant director and producer. The cast featured Grace Simmon, Milo Guevara, Pamela Podolner and Blake Benjaminson.

The Halloween Student Silent Film Festival was a film competition in which students from 10 high schools created original motion pictures. Unlike other film competitions, however, the movies submitted told their stories in visual terms without the aid of voices or sound effects. Each school was given four weeks to create its silent film entry.

Submitted movies were shown with live organ accompaniment by festival founder Derek Berg who is a professional pianist and CEO of the Clarendon Hills Music Academy.

For the festival, a panel of judges — all professionals in the entertainment or art education industries – selected Lyons Township as a winner based on the quality of the story narrative, development, camera work, lighting and editing.

LTHS received an HD digital file of its movie with the accompaniment soundtrack.

Participating high schools and media instructors included Lyons Township High School, Bill Allan; Neuqua Valley High School, John Gelsomino; New Trier High School, Jim Syrek; Bremen High School, Michael Lynch; Riverside/Brookfield High School, Gary Prokes; Oak Forest High School, Michael Boniface; Hillcrest High School, Michael Lynch; Tinley Park High School, Michael Lynch; Barrington High School, Jeff Doles; and Maine South High School, Mason Strom.

For more information, visit: studentsilentfilmfestival.org/.