This year, the 13th annual Bridge Film Festival received 27 entries from 12 Freinds schools, 1 Friends school summer arts camp and 1 Friends Meeting First Day school.

If I recall correctly it was the second year of the festival that I received a message from a Friend who's son could not afford to attend a Friends school and asked why he couldn't enter the BFF? I conferred briefly with my committee and we quickly concluded that by all means students who are Friends could and should be included in a festival that gives young people an opportunity to express ideas that "reflect Quaker values in action."

The following is an email I recently received. With permission, I am posting the following email:

Joann Neuroth
to me
Thanks, Andy!  I settled on "Narrative" since I found your blog-video instruction on how to fill out the form, and it didn't sound too uptight about category boundaries!  And submitted it this morning.

Thanks, too, for hosting this magical idea of a film festival!  Our First Day class has been breathless for the last three months as we worked out their idea.  They were sort of casual for a while until it sunk in that we really meant they could not just imagine it but DO it ... and then wild horses couldn't have stopped the flowing imagination ... and scripting ... and set-design and ... and ....  At one point -- you'll see what I mean when you view the entry -- they were deep in plans for how to have a chicken lay a (cartoon) egg that rolled down over the word "Warship" and changed it to "Worship." [Some ideas had to be reluctantly discarded] 

I'm sure it's a lot of work on your end (the judges and archived entries are impressively professional).  But know that waves from your work have rippled clear out here to Michigan ... and fired young Quaker imaginations.  Again, you'll see what I mean when you watch Red Cedar's entry, but no teacher would ever have thought to answer "Can you think of any "message" you have for the world from our work about "community" or "worship" this year?"  with ... beat ... beat ... "You know?  WORSHIP is only one letter different from WARSHIP."  But we're thrilled with what spun off from that young mind musing.  Thanks for the opportunity -- completely apart from awards or scores or results! 

Best wishes to you and your crew!

Joann Neuroth
(Red Cedar Friends Meeting -- with the "Awesome Group" of First Day kids)
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A Call to Warship is awesome. I hope you take the opportunity to view their film and the others. Hey you never know, you may want to hold a BFF Screening Event at your Meeting.