Marksmen Honored at Film Festival

Two short films by Sarbik Saha ’21 and Salmaan Hussain ’23 recently won Awards of Recognition from the Best Shorts Competition Film Festival. Best Shorts is an avant-garde worldwide competition that strives to give talented directors, producers, actors, creative teams, and new media creators the positive exposure they deserve. Sarbik wrote the screenplays for both films, while Salmaan managed cinematography and editing.

“Going to the ISAS Film Festival as a freshman really opened my eyes to the quality of short films required to get into festivals, as well as introduced me to this new method of storytelling,” Sarbik said.

Both Marksmen have a longstanding passion for filmmaking and decided to combine their talents in producing these two films.

“I would like to thank Ms. Gilbert for going out of her way to vouch for me with the older guys,” Salmaan said. “It really paid off as not only did I make films but also grew fruitful relationships with the upperclassmen who have helped me academically and socially.”

Their awarded films are Paradise, which is about a boy who creates his own paradise to distract himself from troubles at home, and My Greatest Critic, which shows how we sometimes rely on those in our past to achieve the biggest heights in our future.

The pair expressed gratitude to the St. Mark’s community for support making both films. Sarbik said, “without a doubt, we have to thank our actors, Mrs. Glorioso and Henry Exall ’20, who put in so much time and effort, which I will never take for granted.”

“This is the best part of my job: watching a boy like Sarbik mature from a sixth-grader into a thoughtful and creative young man,” said Jennifer Gilbert, St. Mark’s Film Studies teacher.

In addition to winning an award from the Best Shorts competition, Sarbik and Salmaan’s films were also accepted to the All-American High School Film Festival in New York City, the Young Filmmakers, and the Pegasus Film Festival. You can view both award-winning films here.

“I especially hope this recognition inspires other Marksmen to be the best person they can be,” Salmaan said. “This process taught me to avoid personal comparisons in my art. Sometimes thinking outside of the box means sacrificing what you are for what you could become.”
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    • Still from "My Greatest Critic"

    • Still from "Paradise"

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Dallas, Texas 75230
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St. Mark’s School of Texas is a private, nonsectarian college-preparatory boys’ day school for students in grades 1 through 12, located in Dallas, Texas. St. Mark’s aims to prepare young men to assume leadership and responsibility in a competitive and changing world.

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