Spring Break
ECU presents its first film festival
Katie Taylor
Issue date: 4/16/09 Section: Features
With one week left before opening day, students and faculty at ECU are busy preparing for the university's first film festival.
Hosted by the School of Communication, the festival is a two-day event that begins April 24. The first day of the festival will last from 4 p.m. until midnight and continue on April 25 from 1 p.m. until midnight. The films will be shown at Hendrix Theatre at Mendenhall Student Center.
Admission will be free for ECU students and $10 for non-ECU guests.
The festival will showcase four feature films and several short films, including documentary, comedy, animated, experimental and dramatic shorts.
The films are grouped into separate showcases, including the ECU student showcase, a high school showcase and a short film showcase.
"You never know what films will actually make it and become a feature film one day," said sophomore student and film festival host Lindsey Pressley. "To be a part of that means a lot to me."
Pressley, who was also on the festival's film selection committee, says the selection process was made according to qualifications in several different categories.
"The committee picked pre-screeners as volunteers and we watched a total of seven student films," said Pressley. "We had to rate them from one to five in different categories such as story, editing, music, character and quality and then add additional comments. When I was watching the films, I looked to see if it held my interest, if the film made sense and the quality and effort put into the film."
There were six short films selected for the Friday short showcase and seven shorts for the Saturday short film showcase. One of the feature-length films is an animated film called "The Magistical," a film created by four ECU art school alumni.
"There will be awards at the festival," said ECU professor Michael Tierno, who is running ECU's film festival and is also a filmmaker himself. "Getting exposure is part of being a professional filmmaker. Getting your movie seen at a festival is important in the film industry."
Tierno's film, "Auditions," was shown at 12 different film festivals, but this is his first time directing a festival.
The awards ceremony for best films from each category will take place at 8 p.m. on April 25.
A banquet for the School of Communication will be held at Mendenhall at 7 p.m. on April 24. The ceremony will coincide with the film festival and features special guest speaker and documentary filmmaker Cynthia Hill.
The annual ECU School of Communication Awards Ceremony awards students with scholarships in the department.
The recipients of School of Communication awards include Alexandra Jones and Craig James Wagner, receiving the School of Communication Scholarship; Ahmet Aksoy and Samantha Cahill receiving the Lester C. & Alta Rees Scholarship; and Stephen Barnette and Matthew Stephens receiving the David Briggs Martin Scholarship.
This writer can be contacted at the features@theeastcarolinian.com.
Hosted by the School of Communication, the festival is a two-day event that begins April 24. The first day of the festival will last from 4 p.m. until midnight and continue on April 25 from 1 p.m. until midnight. The films will be shown at Hendrix Theatre at Mendenhall Student Center.
Admission will be free for ECU students and $10 for non-ECU guests.
The festival will showcase four feature films and several short films, including documentary, comedy, animated, experimental and dramatic shorts.
The films are grouped into separate showcases, including the ECU student showcase, a high school showcase and a short film showcase.
"You never know what films will actually make it and become a feature film one day," said sophomore student and film festival host Lindsey Pressley. "To be a part of that means a lot to me."
Pressley, who was also on the festival's film selection committee, says the selection process was made according to qualifications in several different categories.
"The committee picked pre-screeners as volunteers and we watched a total of seven student films," said Pressley. "We had to rate them from one to five in different categories such as story, editing, music, character and quality and then add additional comments. When I was watching the films, I looked to see if it held my interest, if the film made sense and the quality and effort put into the film."
There were six short films selected for the Friday short showcase and seven shorts for the Saturday short film showcase. One of the feature-length films is an animated film called "The Magistical," a film created by four ECU art school alumni.
"There will be awards at the festival," said ECU professor Michael Tierno, who is running ECU's film festival and is also a filmmaker himself. "Getting exposure is part of being a professional filmmaker. Getting your movie seen at a festival is important in the film industry."
Tierno's film, "Auditions," was shown at 12 different film festivals, but this is his first time directing a festival.
The awards ceremony for best films from each category will take place at 8 p.m. on April 25.
A banquet for the School of Communication will be held at Mendenhall at 7 p.m. on April 24. The ceremony will coincide with the film festival and features special guest speaker and documentary filmmaker Cynthia Hill.
The annual ECU School of Communication Awards Ceremony awards students with scholarships in the department.
The recipients of School of Communication awards include Alexandra Jones and Craig James Wagner, receiving the School of Communication Scholarship; Ahmet Aksoy and Samantha Cahill receiving the Lester C. & Alta Rees Scholarship; and Stephen Barnette and Matthew Stephens receiving the David Briggs Martin Scholarship.
This writer can be contacted at the features@theeastcarolinian.com.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Larry Gillick
posted 4/17/09 @ 11:10 AM EST
There's something strange about the recent article, "ECU presents its first film festival," by Katie Taylor, a small lack of accuracy.
Perhaps Ms. Taylor was unaware of the former Emerald Eye Independent Film Festival, founded by Prof. (Continued…)
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