An Interview with the REEL Short Film Fest Winners

Congratulations Macey Woodburn and Celia Vargas. 

Saturday, February 25th the Library had their ninth annual REEL Short Film Festival in partnership with Enzian Theater. The REEL Short Teen Film Festival began in 2014 as the in-library DIY Teen Film Festival to celebrate Teen Tech Week, according to Teen Librarian Lisa Blue.

“After two years, our audience outgrew the largest space we had, but we were fortunate that The Enzian thought it was a good idea to partner with us on this project. We've been working together ever since! Reel Short has become a premier initiative to promote art education and visual literacy, showcasing the cinematic talents of Central Florida teens.“ 

Teen Advisory Board member Ellie Capps interviewed the Best of Show and Audience Choice Award Winners Macey Woodburn and Celia Vargas for their documentary Censorship is Silence.

What motivated you to make your film?
 

Last year Winter Park High School had a walk-out for the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” and we made sure to get lots of footage from a big moment that happened on our campus and it was something we wanted to address in our documentary. 

This film discussed issues that are very prevalent in Florida right now. How did you reach out to community members for the interview piece of the film? 

Representative Anna Eskamani is really in touch with Central Florida youth and highschoolers, so much so that I ran into her at an event and she was more than happy to help us with this project. The rest were genuine connections we have with people who resonate with the message we are trying to share. 

What was the most challenging part of making this documentary?

I think just taking a serious project and giving it a creative and entertaining twist. That and how long it takes to put something like this together. It took us months! 

What inspired you to get into filmmaking? 

Celia wants to go into broadcasting and I (Macey) want to go into Digital Media Production. We are in TV Production class together at WPHS and with our two passions and expertise in camera work or editing, we ended up making a great team. We were able to let the ideas flow and we just really worked well together!