By Lydia Melby, Arts Editor
The results are in for FilmFest 2009 “Anonymous.” The fifth annual short film competition featured awards in 14 different categories, screenings of seven of the ten different short films entered in the competition and four different musical performances.
Co-hosts Byron Martin, senior psychology major from Mesquite, and Jamie Lyn Spires, senior communication major from Arlington, introduced each new category, performance and film screening, as well as provided entertainment between segments.
“I was surprised at how many films were entered,” said James Vokes, junior art major from Atlanta. “I had only heard of two or three other people doing it, so I didn’t know there were ten.”
Short film “The Hunger” swept the awards ceremony, taking six of the 14 awards: Best Picture, Best Drama, Best Director for Cody Veteto, Best Writer for Blake Penfield, Best Actress for Breanna Wilkins and Best Technical Director for Brian Escochea.
Blake Penfield, senior political science major from San Antonio, said the idea for the film was one he and director Cody Veteto had come up with and written two years prior, but they had not been able to produce the film until this year.
“I’m really excited about our awards,” Penfield said. “I thought a lot of the other films were excellent, and we were shocked that we won what we did, so I just want to thank the judges and everyone who worked on this film.”
Other FilmFest winners included:
Joshua Jones: Best Actor for role in “North South”
Adrian Chew: Best Original Music for “Arrourus”
Jacob Kitts: Best Action Short and Best Sound Designer for “Fantasy Fight”
Travis Zahodnik: Best Producer and Best Production Designer for “Rootless Tree”
“Your Destiny”: Best Independent Short Film title
“Dead End”: People’s Choice
“Dead End” was not officially entered into the competition due to a missed deadline, but was allowed to be entered into the People’s Choice category.
Adrian Chew, senior math major from Klang, Malaysia, said it was his second time to collaborate with Alex York, who directed “Arrourus,” and he liked the intensity of the newly formatted event.
“I’m really thankful to be able to do this,” Chew said. “It’s been really fun; Alex is great to work with, and I’ve had a fun time.”
Branson Blackburn, junior marketing psychology major from Houston, said he enjoyed the addition of the host and hostess and live music to FilmFest this year, and that the overall quality of the event impressed him.
“It’s been more entertaining than I expected,” Blackburn said. “That first video [“Fantasy Fight”] was pretty creative; I liked it a lot, and the hosts definitely are not timid and are entertaining, which is good. The music was pretty great too.”
FilmFest co-chair Christina Johnson, sophomore English major from Dallas, said the additions of the hosts and the musical performances this year was a group decision made by a team of FilmFest participants in order to get more people involved and interested in the event.
“In May, we got a team of people who wanted to participate together and had a five-hour meeting and revamped the ceremony and re-put it together,” Johnson said. “We tried really hard to give the audience more entertainment than just the films. That’s why we have entertainment and hosts and hostesses because there’s so much more in the way of creativity that ACU has to offer.”
In addition to the film screenings and host’s antics, four musical acts also provided entertainment. Lucas Wright, freshman electronic media major from Abilene, and Sara Potter, senior integrated marketing communication major from Crowley, performed first, followed by Fair Forms, which consists of Paul Knettel, senior management major from Boerne; Jacob Knettel, freshman finance major from Boerne; and Claire Hardin, freshman English major from Lubbock. Clayton Stewart, sophomore Bible, youth and family ministry major from Spring, performed third, and Daniel Hixon, freshman marketing major from Irving, performed last. Each musical act was selected through an audition process and was allowed to perform two songs.
Despite numerous mispronounced names and entry titles, the entire event went smoothly and featured a large audience.
“It definitely pays off; all this hard work is just the cherry on the sundae,” Johnson said. “I love it; it gives me great pleasure that so many people are happy right now and that so many students from so many different groups came out to support everybody.”
FilmFest winners:
“Arrourus”: Best Original Music (Adrian Chew)
“Dead End”: People’s Choice
“Fantasy Fight”: Best Action Short, Best Sound Designer (Jacob Kitts)
“The Hunger:” Best Picture, Best Actress (Breanna Wilkins), Best Writer (Blake Penfield), Best Drama, Best Technical Director (Brian Escochea), Best Director (Cody Veteto)
“North South:” Best Actor (Joshua Jones)
“Rootless Tree:” Best Production Designer (Travis Zahodnik), Best Producer (Travis Zahodnik)
“Your Destiny:” Best Independent Short Film
