Upper Dublin Students Win Big At Greenfield Film Festival

The Keswick Theatre in Glenside recently played host to the , and a pair of Upper Dublin High School students were amongst the group of winners.

Jared Hirsch took home the award for Best Director, as well as a second-place award in the narrative category for his film, “Noir”. Following behind Hirsch was first-time participant Conor O’Mara, who took second place in the documentary category for his skateboarding film, “Right Foot Forward”.

O’Mara, along with his friend Tom Plasket, drew upon their catalogue of skating footage to took aim at the stereotype of trouble-making skateboarders.

“It’s about skating in Ambler, and how there’s a stigma around skateboarders and getting into trouble and stuff,” said O’Mara. “I wanted to show that it’s not like that at all, and there’s a lot of good that comes out of it.”

Though O’Mara considers filming and directing as a hobby, he said that winning the second-place award may have inspired him to continue to pursue filmmaking.

“The fact that people liked [Right Foot Forward] kind of validated our effort, and it’s definitely going to motivate me for the future,” said O’Mara.

For Hirsch, the pursuit of a career in video has already been decided, as he plans to attend Temple University to study film. He’s previously won several awards at the Greenfield Youth Film Festival, though none were as enjoyable as taking home Best Director for his film, “Noir”.

“It’s a comedy set in the film noir genre, and it details the triumph of a dysfunctional ex-detective,” said Hirsch, who added that he enjoys the creative versatility of the video medium.

“I like being able to tell the story,” Hirsch continued. “I’m able to not only write the story, but I can work with it visually and utilize all the technical aspects as well.  It’s really a collaboration of all the types of media.”

Considering that this year’s Greenfield Youth Film Festival featured over 200 submissions from 26 high schools across Montgomery and the surrounding counties, it’s fair to say that these two young men have a bright future ahead of them.

Be sure to check out both “Noir” and “Right Foot Forward” in our media section, and feel free to post your thoughts and reviews in our comments section.