HELENA — A summer film program, through Helena College, is looking for prospective students to apply for this summer’s creative endeavor.
“[We] can help you build a portfolio and give you a little sample of what a career in communications, the media arts, filmmaking, gaming can be like,” says Director of the NEH Program at Helena College, Dr. Ari Lee Laskin.
Humanities through Film, a two-and-a-half-week-long summer film program, works to give students hands-on experience with the process of filmmaking.
Now in its third year, the program is made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. High school juniors, seniors, and recent high school graduates can work in a team to create a film around a central theme.
Last summer, the group focused on a film about the Montana State Capital building and how Montana became a state. And the previous summer, the group made a film about the historical, artistic, and cultural impacts of the Spanish flu in Montana, drawing relation to COVID-19.
The films from these programs have created some serious ripples across the film community. Showing in multiple international film festivals, both of the films have won awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the same academy that awards the Emmys.
Mara Flynn, a current student at MSU in the film program there, has participated in the Helena College summer film program for the past two years, both as a student and a TA. She says that being in this program made her more confident in her collegiate path.
“And then I did this program, and it definitely solidified some things for me of like, oh this is more of what this is going to be like and I definitely do want to do it. So, it was very helpful,” says Flynn.
The final film to come out of this program will center around the theme of the impact of fishing in Montana.
The program runs from July 10 until July 26, 2023. Students can apply online for the free program. A review of applications will occur on June 15, and Dr. Laskin encourages students to get their applications in soon.
“Even more than the filmmaking aspect was getting to learn more about the state I'm from and the state I grew up in. So, there's a lot of different things that you can take away from it. And you'll never know unless you sign up so,” says Flynn.
