Landon Beltran displays awards he earned at the High School Film Festival at Ramona High School in Riverside.
Multiple awards, a documentary series and a campuswide senior project have made this school year a memorable one for Heritage High School student Landon Beltran.
The junior filmmaker recently earned recognition at the High School Film Festival at Ramona High School in Riverside, where two of his projects received several awards. Beltran submitted his work after being encouraged by his film production teacher.
“It was a really cool experience,” Beltran said. “It’s great to have that support from peers and all of my friends.”
The festival marked Beltran’s first film festival experience and the first time he saw his work on a large theater screen. He submitted two projects: “Chapter 17,” a cinematic video documenting his 17th birthday; and “A Little Late to Love,” a short film originally created as a class assignment.
Beltran’s birthday video earned honorable mention and received awards for best sound and best cinematography. “A Little Late to Love” earned Beltran the award for best director.
“Those awards taught me that I was capable of achieving great things,” he said. “It’s something I was extremely grateful for. It’s a great feeling.”
Beyond film festivals and classroom projects, Beltran recently completed one of his largest campus projects.
In May, he launched a senior sign-out project that invited graduating seniors to sign a sheet of plexiglass positioned in front of a camera lens, creating the appearance that students were signing directly onto the screen.
Beltran purchased supplies, promoted the project through social media, and worked with classmates to collect signatures from as many seniors as possible.
“I’m all about inclusivity,” he said. “I wanted to get as many seniors as I could.”
The project ran from May 11-15 and included about 150 seniors. The finished video was shown during the school’s senior rally and even featured a signature from the school’s principal.
“It was cool seeing their reaction to it,” Beltran said.
He said the project was intended to symbolize students signing out of high school while creating a meaningful memory for the graduating class.
“I value high school so much and I know how valuable it can be to seniors as well, especially because this is their last year,” he said.
Beltran is also continuing work on a basketball docuseries featuring Heritage athletes, titled “Heritage Patriots: Rebuild.” Last year, he and his brother-in-law, Jacob Flandez, released “Heritage Patriots: The Weight of Legacy,” a documentary following the school’s football program.
Beltran and Flandez released the first episode in May and are currently working on the second episode, with additional episodes planned throughout the summer.
As he prepares for his senior year, Beltran already has several new film projects in the works, including one dedicated to the Class of 2027.
His future goals have evolved as well. Beltran said he hopes to eventually create a feature film or large-scale documentary, projects that allow him to tell deeper stories.
“I enjoy storytelling and creating deeper meaning,” he said.
Watch the first episode of “Heritage Patriots: Rebuild” here. Beltran’s work can also be viewed on his Instagram page: @langdon_bel.
Heritage High School Principal Jose Topete signs the camera lens for Beltran’s senior sign-out project.
