Schools Awarded for Films at Montclair State University Film Competition

Bangor Area High School, Kinnelon High School, and David E. Owens Middle School Win Prizes in Competition with New Jersey and Pennsylvania Secondary Schools

Release Date: April 2, 2013

Montclair State University is delighted to announce the winners of the 2013 student film competition as a part of the university’s “French Day” event held on March 1 for secondary school students from New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Bangor Area High School, located in Upper Mount Bethel Township, Pennsylvania, took first place. Their entry winning entry “Mystère à Madagascar" was written by student Taylor Bartosh while under the supervision of French language teachers Melissa Martinez and Sarah Flynn. 

Kinnelon High School, located in Kinnelon, second-place winning entry “Perdu!" was written by students Sophie Tiajoloff, Andreas Goergen, Aemin Becker, and Toby Arguello while under the supervision of French language teacher Sophie Adams.  David E. Owens Middle School, located in New Milford, third-place winning entry “The Québec Café Catastrophe" was created by the eighth grade class under the supervision of French language teacher Issam Helwani.

More than 300 students and teachers from secondary schools throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania attended the “French Day” event at Montclair State University.  Participants attended workshops and viewed films set around the theme, “Voyager en français”, which translates to “travel in French”. 

The event celebrated aspects of the Humanities – history, literature, art, music, communication, and global studies – through the lens of the French language.  The university’s Institute of the Humanities and Department of Modern Languages and Literatures collaborated to create the event to show students how the two subjects work hand in hand.

The film competition sought to educate students about the global status of the French language by drawing attention to the places and situations in which one can speak French in the world today.  The student filmmakers created original scenarios set in French-speaking countries where the French language was used to resolve a problem. 

“It is remarkable to see so many students using their French skills so beautifully in real-world contexts.  I am thrilled that they realize French’s unique status as a global language and hope their next step will be to travel to the different countries where French is spoken,” said Montclair State University Language Professor Elizabeth Emery, one of the event’s organizers.

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