McAllen High School wins state title in short-film contest

MCALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A group of McAllen High School students are bringing home a state championship for their short film, according to the McAllen ISD news release.

The announcement about the film "Guayabera" was made Feb. 28 at the UIL State Film Festival in Austin.

It was written, directed, and edited by senior Emmanuel Peña.

"It is a story about a boy who goes through the loss of his father,” Peña explained. “It progressively gets to him (and) finally, finding closure to letting go of his father. Making these types of films where I can sympathize with other people’s problems … is very meaningful for me. I thought ‘how would it be if I lost any of my parents.’ ”

"Guayabera" won in the Narrative Category for Class 5A schools. The title refers to a type of popular men’s shirt worn throughout Latin America.

McAllen High Technical Director Sean Folk said about Peña, "He is a very talented student. He’s intelligent and he comes up with these ideas.”

After going through three rounds of contests with more than 200 short films across the state, this film was selected for the State Festival. It's the second straight year Peña has submitted a film that eventually became a state finalist, said the news release.

“This is an extremely difficult and amazing accomplishment to reach twice,” McAllen High Theatre Instructor Jason Barrera said. “McHi is the only school to repeat as state finalists in the narrative category.”

The film can be viewed here.