LYNN — Luca LoPriore, a senior at Lynn Classical, was one of three students from Massachusetts to be accepted into the 2024 All-American High School Film Festival (AAHSFF), a prestigious, international film festival.
“It was a little surreal at moments,” 17-year-old LoPriore said regarding his trip to the AAHSFF in New York City.
His film, titled “Items,” was displayed at the AMC theater in Times Square as part of the festival program, he said.
He first became interested in film when he was 8 years old after playing a special mode in a Star Wars video game, LoPriore said. Every day he tried to learn more about film, testing out different techniques to explore the artform.
Despite being committed to film for nearly a decade of his life, LoPriore said he became unsure if he wanted to continue to pursue a career in film after high school.
With just two weeks before the festival, he said he came up with the idea for “Items” while he was cleaning his house. The experimental film explores seemingly simple, everyday household objects that might be considered a “waste of space.”
AAHSFF receives thousands of applicants a year and announced the accepted applications on a livestream that he watched. His name was one of the last to be announced in his category — experimental — which was one of the final categories announced, LoPriore said.
He said he immediately shared the excitement with his parents after hearing his name.
Upon his return from the internationally renowned film festival, he said he has a new understanding of how much more work he needs to put in to pursue film.
LoPriore said he is taking a break from making any new films at the moment to focus on applications for film school, a decision he made after his experience on AAHSFF’s red carpet.
“It’s all about how hard you work,” LoPriore ended with, as advice to younger filmmakers. “Just learn a new thing everyday.”
