Four Lawrence middle school students will have their short films screened Saturday as part of the Free State Festival. The films combined poetry, photography and video, all of which were created and edited by the students.

“They seem like really simple projects by just viewing them, but there were so many layers that go into it,” said Liberty Memorial Central Middle School teacher Jackie Stafford.

“I know just about any kid can make a movie with a handheld device like an iPhone or an iPad, but to really get it to all come together, it takes a lot of revision and a lot of the right pieces going together at the right time,” she added.

Throughout the spring semester, the seventh-grade students at Liberty Memorial created the films as part of the Digital Poetry Project, a school-based artist in residency program with the Lawrence Arts Center. Film curators with the Arts Center selected the four short films that will be screened from more than 150 student projects.

“I was really impressed with the quality of the projects that the kids made,” said Marlo Angell, the Arts Center’s director of film and digital media. “I think that the way they intertwined their spoken words with their visuals and their combination of video and still images was really inspiring.”

The four films selected for screening are: “Book” by Eva Markoulatos, “Trapped” by Jack Bellemere, “What I Know for Sure” by Natalie Shepard and “Middle School” by Zora Lotton-Barker.

The Digital Poetry Project was created with support from the Zinn family in memory of author and poet Rebecca Zinn. During their English class period, the seventh-grade students worked with Angell, as well as other guest professional filmmakers and photographers.

“There were pieces that I wouldn’t have been able to offer in my classroom, but these guest teachers could,” Stafford said. “They brought a whole different level of expertise and different perspective.”

The films, which are about two minutes each, will be screened along with the movie “The Fits” on Saturday. “The Fits” is a coming-of-age story about an 11-year-old boxer, Toni, who decides to join a dance troupe of older girls. As Toni works to fit in, members of the troupe begin to suffer from fainting spells.

Angell said the students’ films pair well with “The Fits,” not only because of the artistic style it is shot in, but also the similarity of theme. Though they vary in subject matter, many of the students’ films touch on their transition to adolescence, Angell explained.

“When you’re in that adolescent stage you tend to drift toward what’s my purpose in life and what’s my place in my peers,” Angell said. “… (The pairing) is the perfect combination with the digital poetry projects because that film, ‘The Fits,’ is all about the transition into adolescence from childhood.”

Angell, Stafford and the students will introduce the short films on Saturday, which will play ahead of the movie. “The Fits” will be followed by a question-and-answer session with one of the actresses, Alexis Neblett.

The event will be from 12:45 to 2:45 p.m. Saturday at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 New Hampshire St. Tickets are $8.