Still craving deeply interesting, hilarious and dramatic films even after the Golden Globes? Look no further than the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, which will be hosting Notre Dame's 24th annual Student Film Festival. Running Thursday through Saturday, all of the Notre Dame community will have the chance to admire the finest of Notre Dame's film department.
These wildly creative film students have been working on writing, filming and editing their original works for the past year and finally have the chance to share them with the student body. This weekend is the perfect chance to come support your fellow students while getting a first-hand look at some soon-to-be famous filmmakers.
Junior Elizabeth Kellogg worked on a documentary with seniors Nicole Timmerman and Erin Moffit while in professor Ted Mandel's Documentary Filmmaking class. Although Kellogg is abroad during the festival, she said she is still excited for the screening, describing its release as "nerve-wracking but exhilarating."
"It is sort of the moment of truth in filmmaking where you have to come to terms with what you have just created," she said.
Kellogg wanted most of the film to be a surprise for the silver screen, but she did release some intriguing details.
Titled "Amie's Image," the film revolves around, in the words of Kellogg, "a star from the Catholic Charities program in Chicago, a character that will captivate the audience." The women drove to Chicago countless times in the fall for on-site footage and showed their progress to the class for advice and direction. With the final product now ready for screening, the amount of work the three put into the documentary has been "well worth it," Kellogg said.s
Junior Grace Carini, senior Marty Flavin and senior Andrew Cheng created a film titled "The Lost Pastime" about the original version of America's game of baseball.
"I hope a lot of people come out to see what we've been working on all year because, I promise, although it doesn't look like it, we do work hard all year," Carini said.
This is the second time Carini has had a film in the festival, she said, so instead of being overcome with nerves, she was grateful to be "showcased with some of the other talent at this school."
"So much time and effort has gone into these projects, and it wouldn't be possible without a great group of faculty and staff and many of our fellow classmates stepping up as actors," Carini said. "Each film is a huge collaborative effort and even the extras and actors with the least amount of lines should feel proud to be a part of this."
There are 13 additional films in the festival created by students of all levels, ranging from total beginners to near-experts. This year, the festival will include an Audience Choice Award, which will be decided via text message vote by the audience. The award will be announced before the last screening Saturday night.
The films will be screened in the Browning Cinema at both 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Tickets cost $7 for regular attendance, $6 for faculty and staff, $5 for seniors and $4 for students.
Contact Maddie Daly at mdaly6@nd.edu
