HARLINGEN — IT Comes.
Regardless of what you think about it, Joshua Gonzales wants to drive home the message that COVID-19 is real in his short film “IT Comes.”
“I guess it’s a cautionary tale,” said Joshua, 17, who has entered his work in the 2021 Student Film Awards hosted by the Harlingen school district.
All 73 nominees will be premiered tonight at 7 p.m. on the KHGN Productions YouTube channel. Winners will be revealed Saturday at 7 p.m. on the HCISD Facebook page.
“It’s going to be a virtual event,” said Pat Guajardo, audio/video production instructor at the HCISD Media Arts and Communications Academy.
This is the second year in a row the event has been held in virtual time.
“We have 12 categories and 73 entries,” she said. “They come from MACA, Harlingen High School South, Harlingen High School, Cano Academy, San Benito High School, and Brownsville’s Veterans Memorial High School and Early College High School.”
In the years before COVID-19, hundreds of students competed in 17 categories. Restrictions imposed by the pandemic have made film making much more difficult, resulting in fewer categories and entries.
However, some die-hard young film makers have worked with the situation and found a way to produce their work.
“I just basically have to use what I have around me and do as best I can to my ability,” said Savannah Sanchez, 17, who is entering her music video “Not Today.”
She is also competing with her video “Missing” in the “Best Director” category.
“It’s more of a struggle now online and then more limitations than when we were actually in person and in school,” said Sanchez, a senior at HHS.
“In person, we had more equipment and more people that we could use in our videos,” she said. “I was just kind of like me and whoever’s in my household and using my phone.”
Joshua revealed a similar sentiment about being resourceful.
“I feel like if I was in person it would’ve gone a little smoother, so I would have been able to allocate more time for this specifically, like plan it out more,” he said.
But the virtual situation also has its “perks.”
“Times when I was not in class, I could use that time to film the parts that I needed,” he said. “So in a way it has its pros and cons to it.”
