ROMS student wins 2 best of show awards at film festival

ROYAL OAK — Adriana Alexander, a seventh grader at Royal Oak Middle School, earned two best of show awards at the 58th Michigan Student Film Festival. 

That makes her two videos among the top selections out of more than 460 entries from across the state.

Alexander created two films, “Fish for the Future,” and “If the Detroit River Could Sing.” Each piece demonstrates a dedication to environmental awareness and change. The festival took place at the Detroit Institute of Arts on April 18. 

“It feels really good to have won these awards and shows that I have a lot of creativity,” Alexander said. “It motivates me to make more movies.”

“Fish for the Future” is a short film about protecting the fish within the Great Lakes by keeping them clean. “If the Detroit River Could Sing” showcases the impact of the Detroit River on the Detroit community and why it is important to protect it. 

“It took multiple hours and some brilliant ideas and help from others. I wrote a two-column script, went to many places and recorded videos, and then edited the videos into the final video,” Alexander said. “I also had to find music and piece everything together picture by picture.”

Alexander said her passion for environmental sustainability comes from her family, especially her grandmother. 

“Me and my grandma have always loved the environment including lakes, gardening and swimming,” Alexander said. “Anytime we see a dirty lake, it makes us sad, so we want to say something about it. I like doing projects that make it better and easier for people to enjoy the community.”

Annette Frank, former teacher and Alexander’s grandmother, said that the Michigan Student Film Festival accepts entries from middle school students, but not many are creating films like Alexander did. 

“Usually, the festival gets classroom projects from lower grades while individual entries come from home schoolers or students like Adriana, who describes herself as being in grandma school,” Frank said. “There have been repeat winners in the past, but more kids are posting to TikTok and other similar sites rather than festivals.”

Frank is a retired art teacher and has been doing video and animation with students for over 40 years, she said. 

“Now my classroom is just one student, Adriana. I have suggested topics and provided her with equipment and instruction,” she said. “Since I believe parents and families must provide education outside of the classroom, we have always provided her with exposure to art, music, history, museums and travel with those options in mind. I am a lifelong learner, and we learn stuff together; she is my favorite travel companion.”

Alexander said when she created these movies, she really wanted to stress the importance of keeping lakes safe and encouraging people to do so. 

“My goal was to make something informational, interesting and a little fun to help inform people to help with the lakes we need to protect,” she said. “I wanted to teach the audience that the environment is just as important as other things we do in life. They should care and try to find ways to spread messages like mine as well so that we can continue to have nice lakes in Michigan.”

For more information on Royal Oak Schools, visit royaloakschools.org.