Newport High School student Greg Chu will screen a short film he made last summer with fellow members of Reel Queer Youth’s video production training camp for LGBTQ youth and allies during the National Film Festival for Talented Youth in Seattle this month.

“Out Again” is a short film where Chu plays a bisexual student who struggles to tell another classmate about his sexuality, and is transported back to that moment several times by slamming his head against a locker, trying to get it right. The message, he said, is that you don’t have to get things perfect the first time.

“We just wanted to incorporate that experience of coming out, maybe sharing that new experience of coming out that maybe the audience hadn’t experienced or didn’t understand,” said the 16-year-old Bellevue student. “There were some occasions where I really did hit my head on the locker, but most of the time it was actually me using my fist to hit the locker.”

Chu said he’s long been interested in filmmaking, but most of his projects involved school projects and messing around with friends and a “tacky camcorder.” Reel Queer Youth — a one-week training camp by Three Dollar Bill Cinema for video production and media literacy — was a fast-paced introduction to the art, giving campers a day to develop a script and another day to film. Chu said he hopes to go back this summer to re-familiarize himself with the training and to be a part of the diverse and welcoming camp atmosphere.

RQY began submitting the campers’ short films to various festivals, and Chu’s film has already premiered at some with interest from others.

“Out Again” will show during this year’s National Film Festival for Talented Youth April 23-26 at the SIFF Cinema Uptown in Seattle.

“I wasn’t expecting it to get as far as it has, but I’m grateful it has,” he said.