Two Valley residents, Chris Bunker, and Wynter Rhys, have taken entirely different paths to get to the same place. Each of them has the honor of being selected for the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY), this weekend in Seattle, and each with a first-time film. Both of them say they want to make movies in their futures, and both have something to say, right now, in their films.

Bunker, a 20-year-old University of Washington student from Snoqualmie (by way of Minneapolis), talks about nuclear power, and how much of a hazard it really poses, in his documentary on the Hanford power plant, “Critical Mass.”

“We wanted to look at the way nuclear energy and nuclear waste are portrayed in the media, along with the normal perception of everyday people,” he said. “It’s not necessarily the easiest thing to get into,” he admits in a phone conversation, but “it’s interesting and relevant to a lot of people in Washington.”

With his film partner, Zack Gaston, a Tri-Cities native who helped him decide on the topic, Bunker rented a camera, filled his car with gas, and drove to Hanford. They spent the weekend touring the site and interviewing experts, and another week editing the 20 hours of film he’d shot into the 22-minute movie (all on a $25 budget) that will be part of the screening on Sunday, April 26 at noon.

“I just went on a rampage filming,” said Bunker.

Rhys has a simple message in a short film: Trust your instincts. “Little Red,” though, is as much about provoking the audience as it is about creating her own take on the Little Red Riding Hood story, with undertones of childhood sexual abuse.

“The reaction is important to me,” said the 16 year-old North Bend native. “I love controversy, and I want people to get goosebumps.” Either type of goosebumps, the fear reaction or the awed “that’s so true” feeling, is good, she said.

Rhys had been attending the NFFTY Seattle event as a spectator for the past two years. She knew she wanted to enter a film at some point, but said she “didn’t want to make a film just because.”

When she was ready to make the leap, though, she had a script – about four, actually – and a cameraman, her friend Ethan Senecker. They made the film almost a year ago and released it in September. Then Rhys ran with it, posting on various film sites to get her name out there. She also submitted “Little Red” to 45 film festivals, and it has been accepted into 20.

“Little Red” will be screened Friday, April 24 at 8 p.m.

Rhys is currently finishing up her second film, and has all of the cast and part of the crew lined up for a third. Although she’s studying at Bellevue College through Running Start, she hasn’t taken classes on filmmaking, beyond those she had at Mount Si High School, and she’s not sure that she will.

“This is definitely going to be my career,” she said, of filmmaking.

Bunker, likewise, wants to make a career in film, and a big splash. “I set a goal for myself to win an Oscar by 23,” he said, “so it’s up to me, I guess.”

For tickets and information, visit, www.nffty.org.

Valley filmmakers Chris Bunker, above, and Wynter Rhys are featured in this weekend’s National Film Festival for Talented Youth.