Past Heartland Film Festival Award-winning Filmmakers Rally Around High School Filmmaker, Carol Nguyen

Filmmaker Spotlight: Carol Nguyen

In its six years, the High School Film Competition has been won twice by Carol Nguyen of Toronto.

Last year, Carol took home the $3,000 Summer White Lynch Memorial Grand Prize within the High School Film Competition for her film This Home is Not Empty, a personal piece that explores the idea of the lies that we tell ourselves through a metaphorical lens. The 2015 Heartland Film Festival was Carol’s third time at the Festival; she previously won the Grand Prize for her film Uprooted in 2013 and was a finalist in 2014 for her film “How Do You Pronounce Pho?”

Hailing from Toronto, Nguyen’s future plans include attending film school and continuing to make films that explore the themes of anxiety, hope, identity and her Vietnamese heritage. Currently, Carol is working on a Kickstarter campaign to fund the last film of her high school career called Façade – a film that explores community, love and human connection.

As a 17-year-old, Carol has already proven her place among some of the most talented people in the industry–establishing friendships and professional relationships with filmmakers from all over the world at the Heartland Film Festival. Filmmakers like Riddhi Jha (producer of the Award-winning documentary India’s Daughter) and Alexandria Bombach (co-director of the Award-winning documentary Frame by Frame) are just two of several filmmakers who have pledged their support for Nguyen’s latest filmmaking endeavor.

Seeing past Heartland Film Festival filmmakers support one another in their creative projects is a testament to the transformative power of the art form and the incredible sense of family, community and unwavering passion within the independent film industry.

Learn more about Carol’s latest project and how you can support her student film here.

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High School Film Competition

Founded by Bob & Alison Spoonmore and launched in 2010, the High School Film Competition encourages tomorrow’s filmmakers to create films that inspire filmmakers and audiences through the transformative power of the artform. Each year, one film is selected as the Summer White Lynch Memorial Grand Prize winner and four submissions are chosen as finalists of the High School Film Competition.

Inspired by Carol Nguyen’s story and interested in submitting your film to the 2016 Heartland Film Festival?

See below for details:

Awards

• One film will be selected as the Summer White Lynch Memorial Award Grand Prize winner of the High School Film Competition
  • The winner and a guardian will receive expenses-paid trips to Indianapolis
  • The winner will receive two All-Access Fest Passes for the Festival
  • The winner will receive a cash award of $2,000
• Four High School Film Competition submissions will be chosen as finalists. At the Awards Ceremony one of the four
  Finalists will be named as the Summer White Lynch Memorial Award Grand Prize winner, and will receive an additional
  $2,000 for a total prize of $2,500
  • One narrative short will be chosen as the High School Film Competition Narrative Finalist, and will receive a $500
    cash award in addition to travel expenses for the director and one guardian to attend the Festival
  • One documentary short will be chosen as the High School Film Competition Documentary Finalist, and will
    receive a $500 cash award in addition to travel expenses for the director and one guardian to attend the Festival
  • One narrative short meeting Indiana Spotlight requirements will be chosen as the High School Film Competition
    Indiana Spotlight Narrative Finalist, and will receive a $500 cash award in addition to travel expenses for the director
    and one guardian to attend the Festival
  • One documentary short meeting Indiana Spotlight requirements will be chosen as the High School Film
    Competition Indiana Spotlight Documentary Finalist, and will receive a $500 cash award in addition to travel
    expenses for the director and one guardian to attend the Festival

Deadlines & Fees

• Early Bird Deadline, April 1 – FREE
• Regular Deadline, May 13 – $10
• Late Deadline, May 23 – $15
• Extended Deadline, June 3- $30

Submit your film to the 2016 Heartland Film Festival here.