Here's some great film studies news! Both our faculty and our students have been exceptionally busy lately.
WFU inaugural film festival featured student films from around the world
Wake Forest University hosted its inaugural Reynolda Film Festival April 11-13, 2008. The festival offered college and graduate student filmmakers an opportunity to showcase their work, network with other aspiring filmmakers, and be encouraged in their filmmaking and be rewarded for their creativity.
The most amazing aspect of the new festival was that it was completely organized by Wake Forest students, most notably Alex Saks, the CEO of Wake-TV. The event’s name reflects that it was held on the university’s Reynolda Campus.
The festival featured screenings of 30 films of all lengths by filmmakers from 10 different countries and lectures and panel discussions by notable film industry experts. Both the films and lectures highlighted various filmmaking categories including, narrative, documentary, animation, international and experimental.
The festival ws sponsored by WAKE TV, the university’s student-run television station. According to Alex Saks, a Wake Forest junior who is director of the festival and president and chief executive officer of WAKE TV, the students at the station felt a responsibility to revive the film culture at Wake Forest and want the event to become a yearly tradition.
“In the 1960s and 70s, a thriving, active film community existed here, but since then, it has somehow lost its place,” Saks said. “We still have a network of filmmakers and enthusiasts here, so we decided to develop this festival to help bring the passion for film back to the Wake Forest community and encourage more students to explore filmmaking.”
The festival committee received more than 75 submissions from students representing more than 15 countries, including Canada, Australia, Italy, Brazil, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Thailand, Spain, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. All students who submitted films were invited to attend the festival.
Film industry experts who presented lectures included:
- Brooke Barnett, award-winning writer, director and producer. Her films have included “Kentucky Life,” “Mixed Media” and “Conversations.”
- Mary Dalton, associate professor of communication at Wake Forest, writer and producer. She has produced documentaries, including “I’m Not My Brother’s Keeper,” “Sam McMillan: The Dot Man,” and “Tom Whitaker: Potter at Large.”
- Keith Hobgood, illustration director at Out Of Our Mind Animation Studios.
- Neal Hutcheson, documentary filmmaker whose films include PBS’s “The Queen Family,” “Voice of North Carolina” and “Mountain Talk.”
- Jordan Kerner, film producer whose work includes “Charlotte’s Web,” “George of the Jungle,” “Snow Dogs,” “Inspector Gadget,” and all three “The Mighty Ducks” films.
- David Park, production coordinator at Pixar Animation Studios whose films include “Cars,” Ratatouille” and “Wall-E.”
- Aner Preminger, senior lecturer at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, a visiting faculty member in Wake Forest’s communication department and independent film director. His films include “Blind Man’s Bluff” and “On My Way to Father’s Land.”
Judges for the festival were Dalton; Hobgood; Hutcheson; Preminger; Peter Brunette, Reynolds Professor of Film Studies at Wake Forest, writer and film critic; Sandra Dickson, co-director of The Documentary Institute at the University of Florida; Steve Jarrett, director of media facilities for the communication department at Wake Forest; John Pickel, associate professor of art at Wake Forest; Dale Pollock, former dean of the School of Filmmaking at the North Carolina School of the Arts; and Lee White, broadcast and multimedia system designer for ClarkPowell.
Student Accepted into Prestigious Film Program
Alex Creswick, a Communication major and Film Studies minor, has been accepted into the Producers Program at UCLA (www.tft.ucla.edu/producers/start.htm).
One of the top programs in a highly competitive field for graduate study, Creswick was pragmatic about her chances for acceptance. “I knew that it was a good program, and it was one of those 'no one got hurt by trying' gambles,” says Creswick, who was particularly impressed with UCLA faculty who are active in the film industry and the Los Angeles location.
She was surprised when she first learned of her acceptance. “I was literally speechless,” says Creswick. “Then I jumped around and hugged everyone I ran across; there were some very surprised people in the library that day!”
She has always been fascinated by film because of its power as a medium and ability to reach large numbers of people. “I enjoy reading films and finding the meanings behind them and figuring out how we can use them to influence our society,” says Creswick, who hopes to become a respected producer of socially aware films.
“My professors helped me get into the program,” says Creswick, “and I’ll be applying what they’ve taught me to all my classes.”
Film Studies Minor Alex Creswick
Communication graduate student Mayank Gupta worked closely with Academy Award winning producer Bruce Cohen (American Beauty, Big Fish) on a
Hollywood project. They first met when Cohen visited WFU in November 2005. Mayank is writing the screenplay under the guidance of Cohen and his
associates, which together they are developing for a big-budget
Hollywood movie. They are anticipating an A-list cast, with a tentative
name attached already; that of budding Hollywood starlet - Dakota Fanning.
The producers are developing this spec script with Mayank, which they
shall then pitch to Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks Studio. The screenplay is being adapted from Mayank Gupta's first novel,
"Foresight," which is being considered for publication with Penguin. Mayank has also won second prize in the student screenwriting contest, sponsored by the Broadcast Education Association, for another script!
Film Studies faculty member Mary Dalton is the co-editor of a new book published by State University of New York Press. It's called The Sitcom Reader: America Viewed and Skewed and is comprised of critical essays examining the ways television sitcoms depict and influence American culture.
Film Studies program director Peter Brunette has been active on the DVD front lately. In addition to two essays he wrote for DVDs of Rossellini's The Flowers of St. Francis and De Sica's The Children Are Watching Us, his voiceover commentary on Truffaut's Shoot the Piano Player appeared on the new Criterion DVD of the film which came out in December 2005. He also recently recorded a voiceover commentary for Fellini's film Amarcord for Criterion which came out last fall. He is also working on books on the Austrian director Michael Haneke and the Italian master Luchino Visconti, who died in 1975.
Peter Brunette, director of WFU's film studies program, listens to Hollywood producer Bruce Cohen ("American Beauty" and "Big Fish") during a recent visit to campus.