TOWSON, MD—Blen Asaminew, a Grade 8 student at Catonsville Middle School, and Ajit Thapa Magar, a Grade 11 student at Perry Hall High School, have been named the winners of the 2024 Baltimore County Public Schools Film Expo Poster Contest.

This year, BCPS students and staff could cast votes to select the winning posters. More than 570 votes were cast for the 11 finalist poster designs. The 11 finalist posters were chosen by the Film Expo Committee from among 70 submitted designs.

The winning posters designed by Asaminew and Thapa Magar will be used to promote the Film Expo, and the student artists will receive printed copies of their posters.

While the poster contest for the Film Expo has concluded, students still have time to submit films to the Film Expo. The deadline for student film submissions to the Film Expo is Friday, April 12. All middle school and high school students are welcome to enter. More information can be found on the BCPS Film Expo website. Middle school film categories are animated GIFs (under 30 seconds), live action (45 seconds to 10 minutes), and animation (up to 10 minutes). High school film categories are animated GIFs (under 30 seconds), short-form video (under 45 seconds), live action narrative (up to 10 minutes), experimental (up to 10 minutes), documentary (up to 10 minutes), animation (up to 10 minutes), and promotional videos (up to 10 minutes).

Films selected as finalists will be shown on Thursday, May 16, from 7-9 p.m., at The Senator Theatre, 5904 York Rd., Baltimore 21212. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. The public is invited to this free annual Film Expo event. At the conclusion of the event, both the finalist filmmakers and the winning poster designers will be honored.

The Film Expo was launched in 2016 when a group of motivated teachers across content areas joined forces with The Education Foundation of BCPS, Inc., the Office of Visual Arts, and the Office of Career and Technical Education. Finalist films from the 2023 film expo can be seen online.

Featured photo: Image of the winning poster by Ajit Thapa Magar. Photo directly above: Image of the winning poster by Blen Asaminew.