Steamboat Springs — Submissions for the third annual Steamboat Springs Student Film Festival are anything but average.

“You forget that you are watching a high school film,” said Steve Moos, Steamboat Springs High School business and video production instructor who helped organize the festival. “It’s not just a bunch of high schoolers making a fun movie; they are tackling some serious topics and creating art at the same time. The variety this year is astounding.”

The two-day event, held at the Chief Theater, will take place this Friday and Saturday, and attendees will have the opportunity to take part in the VIP Lounge, vote on films for audience favorites and participate in workshops presented by notable filmmakers.

About 57 films, culled from more than 125 submissions, will be screened as final selections at the event. High school filmmakers from Steamboat and across the state — and even as far as Miami, Florida — entered the competition.

A board of judges will have seven categories from which to choose winners, in addition to a top three overall. Those categories include comedy, animation, artistic experimental, drama, documentary, action sports and music video, the newest category for this year.

“The key elements to a good film, I would say, are production value with the camera work and the strength of the story,” said Chris Koynia, one of the students in Moos’ class who created the film “Mile Marker 10.” “More and more people are sending in entries that have a higher quality than before and with more variety.”

Many of the students in Moos’ class have worked on their films throughout the semester. Although it’s not a requirement for the class to submit a film in the event, many of them are up to the challenge.

“It gives us a venue for our work to be shown rather than just sitting on a computer forever,” Koynia said.

“One thing I really like about this class is that it’s more than just learning about video production,” said Charlie Tisch, who is also in the class and submitted two films in the local film festival. “It’s a group of intuitive people who are really committed and want to make the best film that they can — not just for the grades but to make artistic strides.”

What started as a small event with screenings held in the high school auditorium has now acquired recognition across the state.

“We probably are not going to get Steven Spielberg here, but that was part of the initial idea,” Moos said. “He start at a small high school in Phoenix at one point, and we are trying giving those aspiring filmmakers a place to create and show their work. You never know who you may get. Could have the future Tarantino.”

To reach Audrey Dwyer, call 970-871-4229, email adwyer@ExploreSteamboat.com or follow her on Twitter @Audrey_Dwyer1