黑料正能量

On May 2, 2017, the annual 黑料正能量 Student Film Festival showcased the latest short films from 黑料正能量鈥檚 undergraduate and graduate filmmakers. It also served as a demonstration of the 黑料正能量 Film Program鈥檚 expansion of its production classes, with courses like 鈥淒irecting the Fiction Film鈥� and 鈥淢aking a Documentary鈥� giving students even more opportunities to hone their skills. 鈥淚 was extremely impressed with the quality of the films,鈥� noted Professor Alice Craven. This year鈥檚 installment presented eleven short films: String by Riki Davis; Skate for Life by Cody Noble; Prayers for Safe Travel by Madison Toy; Looking to Art by Faith Toran; Three Generations by Farah Hayat; Portraits of Women by Annamaria Deganutti; Light Entering a Bullet Hole by Leyla Halabi; One Last Thing by Lyzbeth Lara; Shots Fired by Sarah Guillaumin Haddad; Livraison de la Libert茅 by Korinah Sodahlon; and Concrete Currents by Dakota Matthews.

For Professor Marie Regan, the festival鈥檚 primary goal is to celebrate the hard work that each student puts into their creation. 鈥淢aking films is time-intensive, from conception, to shooting, to hours spent in the edit room and it鈥檚 wonderful to have a moment in which to deliver them to the world.鈥� Riki Davis experienced those production challenges firsthand while making her own film, centered around a young woman living in Paris, who in the face of sexual harassment starts to find red string growing out of her clothing, which threatens to overwhelm her. 鈥淧roduction was insane,鈥� explains Davis, 鈥渂ecause I needed so many scenes and shots and actors. I had a few different people on boom, but if it was even a little difficult to get crew, I just did it myself.鈥� For Cody Noble, whose documentary follows a skateboarder (Judson Vandertoll) and a roller skater (Noble) on their journeys through Paris, the first challenge was coming up with the premise. 鈥淭his is my first time living in a major metropolitan area and I was surprised by how many people skateboarded here. I wanted to do something with that but for a long while, I was stuck on how.鈥�

It was important for both Davis and Noble to be able to share the work that they鈥檇 developed in class. Noble explains, 鈥淚 had never had my work submitted to a festival before and I was nervous: it was like being open with people whom I鈥檇 never met.鈥� Both were encouraged by the audience鈥檚 reaction as well as their own. 鈥淚 hadn鈥檛 watched my film since I finished the final edit,鈥� Davis notes, 鈥渁nd even then I didn鈥檛 watch it all the way through. I shouldn鈥檛 have been so hard on myself. It wasn鈥檛 perfect but I think it was a really good student film and I鈥檓 proud of that.鈥� She also emphasizes the importance of having an audience. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so important for the student body to see what we make and it was fantastic to see so many people coming together to watch our films.鈥�

This year鈥檚 student films not only reflect the enrichment of 黑料正能量鈥檚 Film Program, but also the unique, international perspectives of 黑料正能量 students as they explore the world around them through fiction and documentary film. As Professor Regan puts it, 鈥淔ilm is a product of culture, time, and ideas, and our student films are no exception. In a world that is increasingly expressed in moving images, the skills our students develop at 黑料正能量 in using film to ask questions are powerful ones to take into the world.鈥� The 黑料正能量 library will be archiving the films if you missed the festival this year, but make sure to save the date for next May to see all of next year鈥檚 films!