Love takes a lot of thought and time. The thought-provoking and leave-you-guessing quality of Chantal Kapiniak’s Love resulted in the mini-movie being awarded first-place at the third annual Okotoks Zooom Youth Film Festival on Saturday at the Okotoks Cinemas. “It had smart editing, really well thought out shots and had a story that I heard all of you react to,” Zooomfest judge Katie Fournell told the audience. It’s a dark piece, with the main character’s, played by Kapiniak, love interest winding up fatally stabbed. “She was jealous and accused her boyfriend of cheating,” said Kapiniak, a Foothills Comp grad. “He was like, ‘No, I didn’t cheat,’ and then she stabbed him.” The entire film is about a minute but packed with emotion. “She still loves the guy, but she doesn’t love the idea of him going out with other people,” said Dominic Shoop, the film’s editor. So was the guy cheating? “We don’t know that,” Shoop said. And how did the smiling, cheery Kapiniak enjoy murdering someone on film?’ Turns out it was old hat. “This isn’t the first film I have killed someone,” she said. “The other film I put in, Killer Beauty, I shot him (Shoop).” Alexandra VanderMaaten and Matthew Wouters also helped with Love. The second-place flick went to a short film that like Hitchcock’s Psycho, will make you think twice about going into the shower – or bath for that matter. Aidan MacIsaac’s Soap Opera Episode 38 was kind of a stop-action type deal in which the over-the-top drama’s characters were played by real zesty bars of soaps, Head and Shoulders containers and other bathing stuff. He said he chose the spoof route to lighten things up – he finds some film festival entries a downer. “Every time I come to a festival there are always films that are too serious and melodramatic,” he said. “I make this as so-unserious as possible and go crazy creative if I can.” The voiceovers were done by family members and the dog was played by the family pet. MacIsaac has multiple talents. He is a former Holy Trinity Academy Knights lineman and is studying science at Mount Royal University when not being a budding Mel Brooks. “Filmmaking is my hobby and science is what I am good at,” he said with a smile. “I’m a nerd, I’m an athlete and I am a filmmaker.” The third-place recipient was Joel Harrison’s For Mr. Safety Goes to Work. Fournell said Harrison’s humour did not cross any lines and didn’t take the easy route — he kept things clean. The Foothills Comp student’s flick was a Charlie Chaplinesque look at how to work safely at a construction site. “It is a beautiful homage to the silent-film – and filmmakers are suckers for that kind of stuff,” Fournell said with a chuckle. It was the second showing of the week for Harrison’s humourous slapstick spoof. It was also shown in front of approximately 300 people at the celebration of the Foothills Composite modernization completion celebration on Sept. 24. The audience choice winner was Solo, Chase Ashbaugh’s flick based on Star Wars. Receiving an honourable mention was Ty Bekkering for Another Day, Another Case. Ella Rausch’s To Be the Greatest also received an honourable mention. The narration for the film was done as a poem. Zooomfest chairwoman Shawna Koski said the youths have upped their game over the past three years. “Just the quality of the stories, the techniques being able to use the equipment,” said Koski, an award-winning animation filmmaker from Okotoks. “Mostly it is the storytelling – really drawing people in with the story.” She said the aim of the festival is to provide a platform for youths to showcase their work and learn about filmmaking. “Making a connection and maybe moving up to other film festivals and follow their passion,” Koski said. To view the film's go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2690&v=xmNjMEG1RJU bcampbell@okotoks.greatwest.ca