Can you image winning an international film festival and then becoming a judge for it? Junior Kate Wong can, as last year she won the San Francisco International Ocean Film Festival and was asked to be a student judge for the film festival this year, according to Wong.
In addition to winning a $500 prize, Wong was given the opportunity to participate in the same event again, Wong said. Over the course of four months, Wong and seven other judges invested their time to decide the winners of this student competition. Wong took her time and carefully evaluated each video because she knew people were relying on her judgment to win, according to Wong.
“I wasn’t nervous being a judge,” Wong said. “I had a lot less pressure because I wasn’t the one being judged.”
Wong, like all of the other judges, had to follow the guidelines of a rubric to assess the submissions, Wong said. The judging was equally weighted among all of the judges. The winner was determined by how well they met the criteria, according to Wong.
“A good video has a plot,” Wong said. “It also has to have a climax and eventually build up to something, and then resolve it”.
A tip for people interested in participating in this film festival is to have other people look over the video, Wong said. It is very important that everything makes sense, and it cannot be just a narration with pictures, according to Wong.
“Winning gave me hope for other things in the future,” Wong said. “I highly recommend others to try it.”
This is Wong’s first time judging an event, according to Wong. Despite being the youngest judge, she felt comfortable and enjoyed doing the event. The judges told her she might be a judge again next year because they liked her performance, according to Wong.