The 7^th Annual Santa Clarita Valley Film Festival announced Wednesday the screening blocks for the festival, taking place Jan. 5-8 at the Repertory East Playhouse in Old Town Newhall (24266 Main Street).  Several blocks include works submitted by CalArts students and alumni, offering festival attendees a chance to enjoy independent films by some of the world’s best artists.

This year’s event includes films in a variety of genres, from comedy and drama to animation and shorts.  The festival will also feature films by local, regional, and national youth in the junior high and high school screening categories.

The film screening schedule for 2012 is as follows:

• Friday, January 6 from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.

College Shorts (Film appropriate for ages 13 and older)

Films include: Little Boat; Sharkdog; Shell Out; Shape; We’ll be Fine, Probably; Hummingbirds and Holograms; Vampire Gastelbrau; 500 Days of Winter; Bottle (Bottle is a stop-motion short by CalArts animator and director Kirsten Lepore.  She is the first recipient of the Student Annie Award, and her short took top prizes at Slamdance and nearly a dozen other film festivals); Living Water; The Good River; Legal Illegal; Remission of Sins; Blueberry; and Masks (a professional short).

• Friday, January 6 from 8:00 – 9:30 p.m.

Special Screening – Non Competition Film (Films appropriate for ages 13 and older)

Film: Smuggled

Film Festival founders Ramon Hamilton and Jennifer Fischer debut their latest feature film, a story about a mother and son’s journey into America.

• Saturday, January 7 from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m.

Script 2 Screen (Films appropriate for all ages)

Films from local youth who participated in a filmmaking class with Generation Arts, a local company dedicated to teaching the arts, including filmmaking.

Films include: Summer School; Airplanes; Lego; Count on Me; React Relate Through GATE; Friendship is the Newhall Way; Kid Kidnappers; Moonswept (collegiate film).

Saturday, January 7 from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.

Junior High School (Films appropriate for all ages)

Films: Arroyo Seco Junior High films include: Pollution, Knowledge is a Lifesaver; A View from the Inside.  Castaic Middle School films include: R-Word, Tristan-Inside Looking Out, Newhall Incident, and Flight of the Melvin (A professional short by writer/director/producer and Emmy-nominated television producer Paul DeNigris was Filmmaker of the Year at the Phoenix Film Festival in 2007).

Saturday, January 7 from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Professional Shorts (Films appropriate for ages 13 and older)

Films include: Before Breakfast; Bip, Big (Beep, Beep); Almost Runaways; Atroz (Awful); Live Outside the Box; Nanuq (Work by Co-Writer, Executive Producer and Cinematographer Brent Yontz has premiered at Cannes, Marbella and the Chicago International Film Festival); A Finger, Two Dots Then Me; El Somriure Amagat (The Hidden Smile will be screened at Sundance Film Festival in January, so this is a great opportunity to see the film locally.  It has also been accepted into more than 20 other festivals worldwide and has taken home top awards in a variety of categories.  This film is appropriate for 17 and older due to language or adult content).

• Sunday, January 8 from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.

High School (Films appropriate for ages 13 and older)

Films: Saugus High School films include: My Stupid Family and Spider on the Wall.  Valencia High School films include: Positive and Paper Dolls.  William S. Hart High School films include: What Happened to Lucy Roe?, My License, Touch, Le Petit Chef, and I Want to Spend the Rest of My Life with You (a professional short).  

The Santa Clarita Valley Film Festival awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, January 8 from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. and includes awards in the following categories: Best Script 2 Screen Film, Best Junior High Film, Best High School Film, Best College Film, Best Animated Film, and Best Short Film. 

Santa Clarita Valley Film Festival tickets can be purchased at the door and seating is on a first come, first serve basis.  Daily tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students and provide admission to all screenings in a day.

The Santa Clarita Valley Film Festival is dedicated to providing opportunities for interactions that enrich the Los Angeles and Santa Clarita communities both artistically and culturally through independent film.  The event is sponsored, in-part, by Gorilla Software, KinoFlo, LA 411, SCVTV, the City of Santa Clarita, Final Draft, the Santa Clarita Valley Film Office, and the Repertory East Playhouse.  For more information about the 7^th annual Santa Clarita Valley Film Festival, visit SCVFilmFestival.com.