People dream the craziest things. Just ask Southwest Junior High School ninth-grader Emily Knight.

Knight, 14, spent some sleepless nights and missed out on a few of her own dreams as she put together a five-minute film in which other people talk about their dreams.

“It was a lot of work, but it was a lot fun,” Knight said of her film, “Per Chance to Dream.”

“It’s kind of a Shakespeare thing,” Knight said of her choice of titles.

The film was among the first of 54 films being shown this week at the En Fuego Film Festival, sponsored by Free State High School.

Bert Parker, 9, a third-grader at Quail Run School, used figurines for characters in his film, “Courage, the Cowardly Dog.”

“The dog goes trick or treating and has to go through a pumpkin patch,” Bert explained as he watched his film being shown on a big screen television Tuesday night.

Zachary Puckett, 17, Free State senior, entered three films in this year’s festival, the fourth annual edition.

The films, a music video, talk show and short comedy about making a film for the festival, will be among high school entries shown from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. today at Free State.

Puckett says he wants to study film at Kansas University after his high school days are finished.

This is the first year the festival was open to films from students at all Lawrence public schools, said David West, Free State teacher and executive director of the festival.

“It’s great seeing the kids put these films together and the reaction to them,” West said.

An awards ceremony will cap the film festival. It will be from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday at Free State.