Northern Rivers schools first to trial filmmaking course

Hands on practical way for regional Australians aged 10-25 to make short films and enter them in competition

Poppy, Hayley and Montana, all Year 10 students at Rivers College Kadina, experiment with filmmaking equipment.

THREE Northern Rivers schools were among the first schools to trial the Nextwave Online program which teaches film making skills to students.

The Rivers secondary school trifecta - Kadina, Lismore and Richmond River - were given free access to the remote online program.

Southern Cross University and Screenwave International Film Festival helped provide the Northern Rivers schools with priority access to the program.

Executive principal Ian Davies said the opportunity represented a fantastic experience for the students.

"It is exciting that college students in the creative and performing arts will have an opportunity to participate in this program," Mr Davies said.

The episodic program teaches new filmmaking skills in each video which also tie into activities that help improve the students film making.

The online delivery allows students the chance to learn filmmaking skills which they may not otherwise had access too.

The end result is a hands-on practical experience which allows young regional Australians aged 10-25 to make short films and enter them into the Nextwave competition, with the finalists screened at the Nextwave Youth Film Awards at SWIFF in Coffs Harbour, before being screened all across Australia for Youth Week each year.

The Nextwave film festival is Australia's biggest regional youth film festival which has achieved some amazing results since its inception in 2014.

The competition recently extended their deadline until October 26 for all entrants.

For details on the competition, see www.nextwavefilm.com.au.