High school students in Salinas show their talent during SUHSD film festival.

As students work on their final projects putting together a demo reel—a video showcasing their best work during the school year—media teachers are finalizing the last touches for the Student Film Festival that will take place at Maya Cinemas on Wednesday, May 20.

For over a decade, the best work of film and media students from Salinas Union High School District has been showcased at the end of the year. Teachers across the Salinas Union High School District select and curate the list of videos that will be participating. Scott Rose, a media and film teacher at Everett Alvarez High School, says making a student film festival is important because it shows the work students have produced and the skills they have developed in class.

Students learn how to use different cameras, edit video, make a storyboard outline and more.

Rose began organizing student film festivals in Monterey County in 2010, first at Monterey Peninsula Unified School District, then at SUHSD.

“We need to celebrate our students," Rose says. "We need to find out what they’ve done throughout the year, pick their best work, put a little festival together.”

Brandon Baligod, 18, a senior at Everett Alvarez, is showing a music video he directed at the festival after Rose said it qualified for the big screen. “I didn’t think it was as good as he claims it to be,” Baligod says. “It was really just a surprise to me.”

This was Baligod's first year attending a digital media art class. He says his favorite project was working on a short documentary for Gil Basketball Academy. “Everybody was so open to allowing me to record them,” Baligod says.

Viewers will enjoy an array of short films, from documentaries highlighting a local nonprofit to music videos to animation and more.

The free event takes place at 5:30-8:30pm on Wednesday, May 20 at Maya Cinemas, 153 S. Main St., Salinas.