Thursday night students flocked to the annual happening of Campus Movie Fest hosted in the Vaughn Courtyard by CMF committee chairperson Austin Daniels. Although the celebration began before noon with attractions including an obstacle course, climbing wall and barbecue, the actual movie viewing commenced at just after 8 p.m.
It was an event ripe with excitement and anticipation as students lounged across the lawn in various attitudes of repose and pulled tables closer to be able to see the screen.
“I’ve never been before but I’m excited about the viewing,” said sophomore Sean McCleary before the show. “I hope the selections are as good as I’ve heard they are.”
The Best Drama award was given to the film Angelus Domini, a dark and frightening film with a humorous twist in which murderous thugs coerce campus nerds into the revealing the secrets of a Rubik’s Cube. The Dorm, a satire of roommates living at odds, was awarded the distinction of Best Comedy. The flick Contagious was distinguished for containing the Best Scene depicting a cell phone while Call on Me, Alive and Perennial Love were selected to play on Virgin Air Flights around the world.
Chosen from among all sixteen finalists, Perennial Love, a touching film about a woman who rediscovers her capacity for love and hope after the loss of her father to war, was selected for the high honor of Best Picture.
The Wild Card winner, CMF’s equivalent of a Viewer’s Choice Award, will be announced next week.
Sean Michael Gloria was chosen for the distinction of Best Actor for his stellar performance in If You Want It as an apologetic lover, while sophomore Victoria Blyde was awarded Best Actress for her humorous role in Violet Eats Alone. It is her second consecutive year having received such an honor.
“I feel like such a star,” joked Blyde. “I feel like they should pay me next year.”
The 16 UT films shown were preselected from roughly 30 original submissions by a panel of judges
comprised of students, faculty and staff. They were played in groupings of four and interspersed by school announcements ranging from the upcoming battle of the bands event to prize lotteries and the selection of the popular group Slightly Stoopid to perform at the spring concert.
At the close of the viewings, Daniels announced the final award recipients among the 16 films.
Prizes included high-tech TV tuners, iPod shuffles and Final Cut Studio valued at well over $1,000. In addition, all award selections were granted the opportunity of advancement to the Southern Regionals held next month in Atlanta.
Daniels, who has been deeply involved with MovieFest since his sophomore year and is now a senior, was pleased with the outcome of his last such event at UT.
“This year we had an enormous turnout,” said Daniels. “CMF went through a lot of sponsor changes so we had to adjust to that, but as usual we pulled through.”
Apart from a slightly warmer date for CMF next year, Daniels expressed his desire for future viewing events to continue to increase in scope and success.
“My hope is that next year’s board does an even better job than we did this year,” he said. “It’s always a challenge but I know they’re always up to the task.”
How many people attended the night event?