Reel time
UMass Amherst’s first annual student-run film festival put student cinema in the spotlight.
“I’d like to thank everyone who helped me to win this award: my wonderful cast, the film crew, my mother, my film professor…”
Last night at the Campus Center, student filmmakers on the UMass Amherst campus and environs gave their acceptance speeches for awards received at the first UMass Five College Film Festival. Sponsored by campus television station UVC-TV 19, the festival unreeled an evening’s worth of films, then handed out “Scoobies” and Honorable Mentions. The award’s name, incidentally, is a nod to the urban legend that has it that the “Scooby-Doo” cartoon characters are based on the Five Colleges, with the eponymous Great Dane being UMass Amherst.
Dave Mayell, UVC-TV 19’s president, said the festival came about as a way of connecting with students here and at the other colleges, as well as the larger campus community, while having fun fundraising. The connection clearly was made: the event drew more than 150 people, from on and off campus, and 45 films—more than 12 hours of footage—were submitted.
“They were all across the spectrum,” said Mayell. “The most popular category was ‘short film narrative (under 15 minutes).’ The majority of the films came from UMass undergraduates, but we also received films from Smith, Mount Holyoke, and Hampshire. They were very professional, high-quality works.”
Among the entries were a musical; a 30-minute, black-and-white silent film set to music; a narrative film exploring the effect of iPods on contemporary life; and a batch of experimental films from those artsy types down the road at Hampshire College.
Judges Bruce Geisler, Don Levine, Adrian d’Errico, and Li Gu gave out Scoobies in several “best-of” categories: documentary, narrative, experimental, and short. There was also an award for the most outstanding film overall; the best film by a UMass Amherst undergraduate; and for the best film by a graduate student from any of the five schools.
UVC-TV 19 broadcasts a mix of regular shows—Sports Sunday, UMass This Week, and SGA meetings—and special events such as lectures, festivals, and concerts, to an audience of 12,000 students on campus. Among the varied fare has been a talk by renowned linguistics scholar Noam Chomsky; a Vietnamese New Year’s celebration; a performance by Hasidic Reggae superstar Matisyahu; and Cindy Sheehan’s visit to UMass Amherst on Veterans’ Day. Founded in 1974, UVC-TV 19 counts among its past members David Skillicorn, a filmmaker who won an Emmy for his documentary Ellis Island.
UVC-TV 19 members, about 100 this year, enjoy numerous benefits, including the chance to learn filmmaking, editing, and TV production skills in situ. Those members who have gone through four hands-on workshops covering such basics as camera operation, sound recording, and editing, may use the station’s equipment—professional-grade Sony PD 170 camcorders, for instance—for their own creative ventures. They may also sign up for free workshops like “Studio Lighting” and “Advanced Camera.”
The film festival offered another educational experience to student filmmakers: a screening of their work before an audience. And—who knows?—festival-goers may have gotten to witness the debut of the next Ang Lee, Michael Moore, or Keira Knightley on the (Campus Center) silver screen.
And the winners were:
Best Overall Film: Exit-1C, Andrew Smith, UMass Amherst
Best Narrative:
Alex Ezorsky-Lie, UMass Amherst
Best Experimental: Body & Substance, Ben Balcom, Hampshire College
Best Documentary: Searching for Tupac, Joey Carey, Hampshire College
Best Short Film: The End of the Line, Andrew Hauser, UMass Amherst
Best Film by a UMass Amherst Undergrad: Of Unsound Mind, Evan Greenspan
more:
UVC TV-19: 1st Annual UMass Amherst Five College Film Festival