Campus MovieFest, the world’s largest student film festival, has just wrapped up its eighth visit to UT.
Over 60 teams participated in filming Feb. 4 through Feb. 10, using loaned Macbooks and Panasonic HD cameras in order to have the best filming experience possible. Although most teams stuck to what CMF provided, some decided to step it up with their own equipment.
Jamie Denko, a senior film major, decided to use UTTV’s camera equipment instead of what CMF provided.
“We used CMF’s laptop, but we used UTTV’s cameras because we wanted to show what they can do,” Denko said.
Denko’s film, I Do, did not make it into the final 16 shown in the finale but can be seen on CMF’s YouTube channel along with all of the other 47 entries.
Out of the 47 films that were sent in, only 16 were chosen to be shown at the finale. Three of those films, the winners of Best Drama, Best Comedy and Best Picture, will be screened at CMF Hollywood in California. The film with the most views online will be sent to CMF Hollywood as well, even if it did not make it in to the finale.
Happiness, a film by freshman film major Ben Drieker, won Audience Choice. Drieker and his team including freshman Kyle Fitzgibbons and sophomore Spencer Haberman were awarded a $100 Best Buy gift card and a $50 gift card to a local pizza shop.
Drieker describes his film as “a true coming out story. It’s about being happy with who you are and being true to yourself.”
Haberman, the editor of Happiness, said that the film is relevant and relatable to what a lot of college students are going through today.
“We went through numerous ideas and thought: ‘Why not do something true?’ We wanted to do something with deeper meaning,” Haberman said.
Molham Krayem, the star of The Social Creep, which won Best Comedy and Best Soundtrack, accepted the award for his team.
“I always watch the Golden Globes and The Oscars on TV, and I’m like ‘How does it feel for them to be standing up there?’ It’s incredible to know that all that effort and all that hard work pays off in the end,” Krayem said.
When asked about his experience with the production process, Krayem replied, “It was harder than I expected having to get the cast together, all the different angles, all the different shots, you’ve got to film at certain time… It’s all a project. It’s all bits and bits and bits of tiny pieces and they all come together, and it’s beautiful.”
Krayem and his team, along with the teams for I Wish, the winner for Best Drama, and Thomas, the winner of Best Picture, will travel to California for CMF Hollywood June 19 through June 22, where their films will compete against films from students around the nation. Thomas will also be screened at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner.
The productions manager of Campus MovieFest, Nishant Gogna, provided a statement after the event saying, “For the record, I’d just like to state that this year’s CMF at UT event received the highest quality of films in UT history. We’re super impressed by the level of talent and enthusiasm coming from UT. Spartans everywhere should be proud of themselves!”
Selene SanFelice can be reached at selene.sanfelice@spartans.ut.edu