FARMINGTON — A student-led film project, CUT the Habit, recently launched its Web site featuring 19 films produced by students from area schools. The films can be viewed at www.cutthehabit.org and are open for voting for the best film.

Organized by the Healthy Community Coalition, students have worked from July 2009 through January 2010 to create short films that depict the harmful effects of tobacco, as well as the media’s (especially movies’) influence on youth tobacco use.

Students from Jay, Livermore Falls, Mt. Abram, Mt. Blue and Foster Regional Technology Center have worked on the films with MPBN Executive Producer, Chris Sweet, a graduate of Mt. Blue High School, who offered technical assistance. Another Mt. Blue graduate, Desi Van Til, along with her husband, Sean Mewshaw, spoke to students about their own experiences working on movies in Hollywood, offering advice for effectively telling short stories through film.

CUT the Habit is funded through a grant from the American Legacy Foundation. “Twelve-hundred smokers die each day worldwide from tobacco-related causes,” said Lorri Brown, program coordinator for the CUT the Habit film project. “Big Tobacco advertises its products to entice young people into a lifetime of smoking. The goals of the American Legacy Foundation through this grant are to counter the use of products by youth and educate consumers about the cause and prevention of diseases associated with the use of tobacco products.”

All films will be shown at a film festival, scheduled for Friday, March 26, at the Ben Franklin Center at Franklin Memorial Hospital.

“The winning film team members will each receive a MacBook Pro laptop,” Brown said. “The top three films will be put on DVDs and distributed to local schools, community groups and movie rental stores.”

For more information about CUT the Habit student films, the film festival or joining CUT the Habit, please contact Lorri Brown at 779-2929 or e-mail [email protected].