“You can’t kill me. You’re already dead.“ So goes the quote from the movie Check, shown at the first annual Walter Johnson student film festival thrown on May 27 by the WJ Film Society.

    The films shown at the festival ranged from comedies to dramas, one even following a day in the life of a WJ skateboarder. Working and planning for the festival since the beginning of the year, student Film Society members and its founder, Russell Yaffe, were thrilled to see their plans come to life.

Days before the festival actually began, Yaffe said, “I am really excited about for the first time ever letting the WJ community see movies made by student film-makers.”

    Interestingly enough, some of the films shown in the WJ student film festival didn’t come from current WJ students. Opposites Attract, a romantic comedy, was made for $5000 by Ben Pitts, a former WJ student who now lives in New York.

    Looking back at the experience, Pitts, who hired professional actors for his movie, said, “Making the movie was quite an experience, but it turned out very well. I was excited to submit [it] to the WJ Film Festival, [because] I thought it would be nice to show some of the students what it’s possible to make with a big script and a lot of actors.” Yaffe, who told Pitts about the festival, was especially happy with the movie, and expected it to be a big success. “I’ve seen Ben’s work in the past and I liked it. I loved the script and I just think that the WJ students will really enjoy it,” he said.

Out of the other student filmmakers like seniors Aaron Steven, Geoff Thompson and Matt Hall, some even received a grade for their film, after deciding earlier in the year to do it as their senior project. As Steven put it, “It started out as just a senior project, but in the end as more people got into it became more of a film festival thing.”

In the end, both the filmmakers and the festival organizers enjoyed creating the festival. In the words of the mysterious stranger the character from Check meets, the festival was a success “In a manner of speaking.”