By Lookout Staff

June 22, 2016 -- Films by students in local schools will be among the three dozen shorts screened at The 11th Annual Santa Monica International Teen Film Festival next month, event officials announced.

The free festival -- which will take place in the bayside city on Saturday, July 9th, and Sunday, July 10th -- features short films averaging four minutes that were submitted from across the U.S. and around the world.

This year's festival received submissions from aspiring teenage filmmakers in Hong Kong, Pakistan, India, Russia, Ireland, England, Iran, Thailand, Mexico and Canada.

Among the local filmmakers represented this year are students from Santa Monica High School, New Roads High School, Harvard Westlake and other area schools.

“The Vision," a spoof of the film-making process directed by New Roads students Silas Mitchel and Wesley Clark, will screen on Sunday.

Also screening Sunday is “The Story of Three Rings: A Memoir of Dana Schwartz,” an animated short produced by the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust and directed by teenage filmmakers Dora Schoenberg, Elly Hong, Felix Audelo-Ruiz and Carolina Martinez.

The Saturday screening will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Ann & Jerry Moss Theater at New Roads High School, 3131 Olympic Boulevard. This screening is rated PG-13 due to occasional violence and mature themes. For more information visit www.mosstheater.com

The Sunday screening will take place from 2 to 4 p,m. at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Auditorium at the Santa Monica Main Public Library, 601 Santa Monica Boulevard. This screening will feature animated works, documentaries and short films rated G and appropriate for all ages.

A dozen awards including “Best of the Fest”, “Best Animation”, “Best Documentary”, “Best Music/Video Experimental” and “Best Live Action” will be presented at a ceremony after Sunday’s screening from 4 to 4:30 p.m.

An “Audience Choice” award will be given after each screening. The winner will be chosen by the live audience via ballot immediately following the screening.

There will be complimentary refreshments and snacks at each screening, as well as a red carpet outside the venue.

The festival is "a wonderful activity for film buffs and/or families looking for something unique and fun to do in Santa Monica," organizers said.

Santa Monica International Teen Film Festival is sponsored by the Relativity School, an industry school in Downtown Los Angeles, and produced by the City of Santa Monica, including the Cultural Affairs Division, the Friends of the Santa Monica Public Library, SMPL Youth Services, the Virginia Avenue Park Teen Center and City TV.