SAVANNAH, Ga.—The Savannah College of Art and Design announced the films chosen to compete in the Student Filmmaker Competition Awards at its milestone 10th annual Savannah Film Festival, Oct. 27–Nov. 3. A jury of filmmaking industry professionals will choose the winning films, including the HBO Film Student Competition Award winner.
Savannah Film Festival student competition entry films have won several prestigious industry awards over the years, including “Focus†(2004) by SCAD student Nilanjan Neil Lahiri, which won the Silver Medal in the alternative category at the 31st Annual Student Academy Awards.
The Bottom
USA, 2007, 24 min., student, Beta SP
Director:Winn Coslick
Writers: Winn Coslick, Heather Shiver
Producers: Rhyan Derring Taylor, Winn Coslick, Tyler Martinolich, Patrick Griffin
School:Â Savannah College of Art and Design
Cast:Â Â Bubba Lewis, Scott Cox-Stanton, Rob Oldham, Bobby Bocanegra, Allen Lander
Seth is a teenage boy working at a remote gas station in the decaying, rural landscape of the southern United States. Isolated and restless, his ambition turns to mischief, and the story Seth creates to escape his situation leads him to a place where he will feel more trapped than ever before. It is a moving tale, reminding us that the line between fact and fiction, humor and tragedy, is faint; and those who choose to walk it can suddenly find themselves on the wrong side.
Deacon’s Mondays
USA, 2007, 18:30 min., student, Beta SP
Directors:Â Destin Cretton, Lowell Frank
Writers:Â Â Â Destin Cretton, Lowell Frank
Producers:Â Destin Cretton, Lowell Frank, Kenny Laubbacher
School: San Diego State University
Cast:Â Â Dominic Bogart, Jane Evans
Deacon lives in a fantastical world of snowing feathers, hailing golf balls and incredible guilt. After a petty accident begins to haunt him, the lonely landscaper must stumble through his mundane life while combating his inner torment. Through an unlikely friendship with an elderly woman, Deacon comes face to face with his own humanness and learns that he is not alone.
Dinner
USA, 2007, 15:45 min., student, Beta SP
Director: Joshua Green
Writer:Â Â Joshua Green
Producer:Â Joshua Green
School:Â Savannah College of Art and Design
A noir docu-drama that treats food as politics. It follows the collision crash course enacted every day between an entitled American couple and their evening meal, from field to plate and beyond. Told in four short vignettes that make up a single day, it illustrates Bertolt Brecht’s “inflexible rule that the proof of the pudding is in the eating.â€
The Knife Grinder’s Tale
USA, Nairobi, 2007, 18 min., student, Beta SP
Director: R.L. Hooker
Adapted for screen by R.L. Hooker
Producers:Chiara Paglieri, R.L. Hooker
School:Â University of Southern California
Cast:Â Mumbi Kaigwa, Sam Otieno, Stephen Gitau
Ogwang, a knife grinder, has lost his son to an angry mob. Not knowing the place his son lost his life, Ogwang sets out on a journey to understand why and finds the place where his son once worked, Mama Lucy’s Fish Shop, in the biggest slum in Kenya, Kibera.
Push
USA, 2006, 14:53 min., student short, BetaSP
Director:Â Stephen Stanley
Writer:Â Â Â Stephen Stanley
Producers: Chris Coyne, Stephen Stanley
School:Â Â Â Savannah College of Art and Design
Cast:Â Barbara Williams, Bre Brooks, David Sterritt, Rachel Thomas, Vincent Caubia
Kyle, Doug, Heidi and Tracy are all teenagers working dead-end jobs at a small, failing toy store. Diane, an embittered middle-manager, runs the store with an iron fist and attempts to squash any attempts by her employees to enjoy their lives. Their daily routine is suspended when Tracy’s friend, Jamal, plays the opening riff to Salt-N-Pepa’s classic “Push It,†setting off a chain reaction that propels the store and the people in it into an elaborate musical fantasy world.
Last Day of December
Romania, 2006, 15 min., student, Beta SP
Director:Â Bogdan Apetri
Writer:Â Â Â Bogdan Apetri
Producer:Â Bogdan Apetri
School:Â Â Â Columbia University
Cast:Â Â Â Â Â Dan Grigoras, Florin Rusu, Nora Covali, Paul Chirila
A man tries to reconcile a harrowing tale from his past and confront old questions that will keep on haunting him forever. But what will it mean for the present?
Si Tú No Estas (If You’re Gone)
Mexico, 2007, 20 min., student, Beta SP
Director: Noe Santillan-Lopez
Writer:Â Â Noe Santillan-Lopez
Producers:Â Noe Santillan-Lopez, Cayman Eby, Claudio Vizcarra
School:Â Â Â Savannah College of Art and Design
Cast:Â Bruno Bichir, Ivan Arriaga, Veronica Toussaint
Eight-year-old Sebastian’s life changes forever when his mother, Ana, dies. Julian, his father, finds himself unable to keep the family afloat and begins to sink into the comfort of a bottle, his life’s devotion to music and his will to live crushed by the loss of his wife. When Sebastian innocently follows Julian’s actions, Julian becomes aware once again of the importance of living.
Slum Noir
USA, 2007, 4:50 min., student, Beta SP
Director:Â Jahmad Rollins
Writer:Â Â Â Jahmad Rollins
Producer:Â Jahmad Rollins
School:Â Â Â California Institute for the Arts
Children of the slums survive shadow buried streets behind hidden masks. Chasing after a masked young girl carrying a mysterious box, both prey and predator are motivated by desperate want where the only reward for cunning resourcefulness is another second of life.
Snapshots
USA, 2006, 5:32 min., student, Beta SP
Director:Â James Mullins
Writer:Â Â Â James Mullins
Producer:Â James Mullins
School:Â Â Â Savannah College of Art and Design
While enjoying the scenery of one of the larger asteroids, an “average Joe†type of alien taking a trip to an asteroid field mistakenly picks a flower that is much more than a common flower. He is chased off the asteroid with the flower still in his pocket. Things get crazy when he places the flower into a soft drink in order to revive it.
Some Apologies
USA, 2007, 7:31 min., student, Beta SP
Director:Â Adem Weldon
Writer:Â Â Â Adem Weldon
Producer:Â Adem Weldon
School:Â Â Â University of North Carolina Greensboro
Cast:Â Â Â Â Â Daniel Stine (voiceover), Paul Blaser, Phillip Blaser
An older brother remembers the time he hit his younger brother in the face and paints a nuanced portrait of sibling rivalry while touching upon the mysteries of memory and guilt.
The Savannah Film Festival is hosted by SCAD and features independent, innovative and influential film from around the world, as well as workshops, panel discussions and presentations of well-known visiting artists and filmmakers. In 2006, all but one of the evening gala screenings went on to be nominated for an Academy Award, and all but two of those films won the Oscar in their category. SCAD students from across the college’s more than 30 accredited academic disciplines participate in the festival to learn about the art of filmmaking from industry leaders.
Award presentations and film screenings will be held at the historic Trustees Theater, 216 E. Broughton St., and Lucas Theatre, 32 Abercorn St. Workshops and other presentations will take place at Red Gallery, 201 E. Broughton St.
Passes to the Savannah Film Festival are available for purchase through the SCAD box office, 216 E. Broughton St., online at www.scadboxoffice.com, or by phone at 912.525.5050.
A limited number of individual tickets to screenings and workshops will be available at the SCAD box office beginning Oct. 1. Morning and afternoon screenings and panels will be $5 for the general public, $3 for students, senior and military, and free for SCAD students, faculty and staff with a valid SCAD ID.
The price for tickets to the evening screenings will be $10 for the general public and $5 for SCAD students, faculty and staff with a valid SCAD ID.
Group discounts are available.
The Savannah Film Festival schedule is subject to change.
For media inquires and image requests, contact 912.525.5225.