First Exposure Film Fest Features Huntington Students Saturday

Works by Huntington High School filmmakers will be screened at the Eighth Annual First Exposure Festival at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington Saturday at 4 p.m.

Samantha Carroll and Olivia Liepa, both juniors, won top honors at the Long Island Media Arts Show at Five Towns College in Dix Hills. Their short films are among 15 selected for Saturday’s festival.

Admission to the festival is free. The hour-long exhibition features the “best of the best” high school short narrative, documentary, and animated films.

Sponsored by the Suffolk County Film Commission, the event honors the filmmakers for their craft, and provides them with a DVD compilation of the 15 films and Certificate of Recognition from Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone, according to the Huntington High School website.

“I am so excited to have both Best in Show Award winners from the Long Island Media Arts Show be accepted into the First Exposure Film Festival," Heather Swan, a Huntington High School teacher who leads the video arts program, said, according to the school’s website. “I am so proud of the dedication that both Sam and Olivia have displayed this year.”

Each of the 15 films will also be evaluated by officials from the Cinema Arts Centre, Stony Brook Film Festival and the Hamptons International Film Festival for possible inclusion in their respective programs.