After months of preparation, Spartan filmmakers William McKinney, Gordon Brode, Ian McMillin, Graham Ross, Tya Arnold, Janay Kelley and Nadifah Rasheed are set to have their short films premiere at the Indie Memphis Youth Film Festival. White Station High School, in fact, has more students participating than any other Memphis high school. 

Kelley and Rasheed’s film Sugar is premiering at 12:45 as part of the CrewUp Mentorship Film Screening, along with Brode, McMillin, and Ross’ film Grounded. Rasheed’s film In Her Dreams and McKinney’s film Outsider are showing at 6:15 as part of the Memphis Youth Competition Screening.

“It’s really cool to see all of our hard work pay off,” Gordon Brode (11) said. “So much more went into making this movie than a lot of people realize, and I hope people can tell when they see it this weekend.”

The festival is taking place on September 7th at the Halloran Center, and it is free to attend for students. It showcases a full day of film screenings and workshops for young filmmakers; interested students can learn about everything from screenwriting to making music videos.

In addition to the workshops and screenings, the Indie Memphis Youth Film Festival is also featuring a guest appearance from  Caitlin McGee, star of “Bluff City Law.” McGee will be talking about her experiences from working in film.

Students must reserve a free pass before the event in order to attend. Lunch and dinner will be provided by Aldo’s Pizza and Maciel’s Taco Shop.