For the last eight summers, students have been able to showcase their forays into comedy, drama, action and more to be viewed by and judged against their peers. This year, the ninth annual Teen Film Fest will be held by the Arlington Heights Memorial Library (AHML), and they expect more participants than ever.

In collaboration with Metropolis Performing Arts Centre and Arlington Heights Arts Commission, AHML has been able to increase the scope and attendance of the festival from year to year, allowing it to be accessible to more young filmmakers.

“The partnership has really given us some momentum and made the film fest bigger and better each year,” Teen Librarian Tom Spicer said. “Last year, we had over 200 people in attendance.”

The festival awards six categories of film including a Best Overall award. Junior Daniel Carpenter, who won Best Action/Drama last summer for his film “Clash,” has been participating four consecutive years.

“It’s very cool to be judged by the film critics,” Carpenter said. “And it’s so cool to see a lot of fellow high

schoolers being really attracted to the idea of independent films. The fact that the films received so much attention makes it really fun for me.”

One of these film critics is Dann Gire of the Daily Herald, who is also the president of the Chicago Film Critics Association. Gire, who was originally the sole critic of the festival, now works with two other people to judge the teens’ films.

“The last couple of times, we’ve had films that are easily on par with anything that you see in collegiate,” Gire said. “I’m really impressed and looking forward to the next group here.”

AHML stresses that, while there are many high quality films entered in the festival, it is primarily a learning experience to show off the creativity of students.

“Even if you’ve never made a film before, you should enter,” Spicer said. “This is an amateur film fest. There are amazing films, but we want to see everything, so just go out there and try to make a film with your friends; that’s what the festival is all about.”

The teens in the festival also get to experience a community of like-minded peers formed on a singular interest: filmmaking.

“Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows and other people

from all over come to see the film presented in a public forum on a big screen,” Gire said. “You don’t get to do that every day. You only get to do that one time a year. This is it.”

The ninth annual Teen Film Fest will be held Friday, August 21. $300 in cash prizes will be awarded to the various winners.