Student Film Festival 2015

Lights, camera, action!

A red carpet and the smell of popcorn guided film lovers to the Oxford Brookes Student Film Festival yesterday. The famous soundtracks along with the red carpet and the popcorn captivate the audience and created a kind of magic in the atmosphere of the event. It took place in the Union Hall of the John Henry Brookes Building. The third year students of Film Studies screened their short films to the following select audience: Dr. Lindsay Steenberg, Nick O'Dwyer, Dr. Paolo Russo and other Oxford Brookes teachers and students. In the following post I will narrate my experience in this edition of the Student Film Festival as a spectator that enjoyed the event and wants to express her point of view. 

The jury was composed of the three film experts in Oxford Brookes University mentioned above. They would decide the winners of the followings awards categories: Cinematography, Editing, Sound, Director and Film. The rest of the audience also could participate in the choice of the winner of the “Audience Award”. We all had a pen and a booklet with information about the films waiting for an owner in each seat. Inside them there was a little piece of paper to vote for our favourite film.

            The following list show the short films presented in the Film Festival as they appear in the Film Festival booklet:

Caymanian Art – A New Frontier

Ernest Jacob Olde VI

Cayman Art – where yesterday meets today and seeks tomorrow.

Don´t worry, Lucy

Jack Rubinstein

Lucy is the subject of a documentary – but the documentary crew have to improvise when the unexpected happens.

False Impressions

Giula Marinelli

When two crime detectives investigate a murder case, they discover an old journal which leads them to unravel a dark mystery tied to the past.

Far Away

James Battrick

A young man takes on a journey in order to re-create the one his mother had taken twenty years earlier.

Feral

Emily Jusufi

The struggles of a village boy escaping his peasant way of life by gaining an education.

Last Night

Ditte Poulsen

A troubled young woman attempts to convince her psychiatrist that she is not ill. But is she lying?

Liberty

Roisin Evans

In 1943, Nora wakes up in a hospital and is told by the staff that she is safe in England after her plane crashed on the way home from France. However, she begins to see deception everywhere.

Untitled Harlow Project

Eduardo Rocha

Harlow, a trained assassin, is on the verge of receiving her last mission but two other assassins seem to be playing the same game.

Unfortunately, there were some short films that could not be entirely screened due to technical problems. Those films were False Impressions by Giula Marinelli and Liberty by Roisin Evans.

Not only the entrance to the event was free, but there were also free popcorn, cava and delicious cup cakes! After watching all the short films screened, I had my three favourite ones. The first one I liked the most was Feral by Emily Jusufi. That film was screened in original version with subtitles. The landscape was incredibly beautiful and the actors were sublime, especially the children. The story was about having determination and self-reliance to achieve your dreams, no matter how difficult the way can be.

The other two films I enjoyed most were Cayman Art – A New Frontier by Ernerst Jacob Olde VI and Far Away by James Battrick. The former showed the story of some astonishing paintings by artists living in the Cayman Islands. The latter presented the story of a man who walks across breathtaking mountains and landscapes on a journey. The aspect of this film that called my attention was the engaging background music. Another film I found amusing was Don´t worry, Lucy. Despite the fact that this film depicted a serious incident, there were several funny moments that make me laugh a lot, such as the moment when Lucy makes certain sound with the ice cream while she is talking on the phone or the arguments between the two cameramen. At the end of the festival, the jury said the winners of the awards. Feral got 4 awards (included the “Audience award”) and Far Away got two.

            Overall, I think that the organisation of the event was very well done; it would not have been such an exquisite experience without the popcorn and the tasty cup cakes; and the short films were interesting and thought-provoking. I would like to highlight the fact that the teachers were there supporting their students and that there were people raising money for the Nepal earthquake. I really enjoyed this event and I love how Oxford Brookes University makes possible this kind of cultural and artistic events that inspire students to be creative as well as it gives them the opportunity to share their piece of art to other people.