Springs School’s seventh and eighth-grade students took a field trip to Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor for the Hamptons Doc Fest recently, and word on the street was that this was one of the best field trips yet.
At the theater they were shown a short film called “Rocks 4 Sale!” After the film, the students were taught how to make a film on an iPhone. During this lesson, many students were called up to the stage as volunteers. They learned about creating wide shots, and close-ups, and how to put them all together in iMovie.
Hamptons Doc Fest included many short and long documentary films that played at the theater from Nov. 30 through Dec. 6. Speaking with student interviewers, Jacqui Lofaro, the festival’s founder, said her favorite thing about working at Hamptons Doc Fest was watching the look on everyone’s faces while they enjoyed the films and watching everyone be entertained and educated through films. One of her favorite films she has seen at the Doc Fest was “Shari and Lambchop,” about a ventriloquist named Shari Lewis, and her lamb puppet, Lamb Chop. Ms. Lofaro said the festival gets hundreds of submissions each year, and what it really looks for is a good story. She said she had seen Hamptons Doc Fest grow so much in the 17 years it has existed, and the number of films has increased a lot as well, from just four films in the beginning to 30 this year.
By Rafaela DeMartis, 7th Grade