Winners of the 18th annual FilmFest were awarded with “Face Down” bringing home six awards including “Best Picture.”

A total of 10 films were entered and 11 awards were given out including awards such as Best Picture and Best Director during the annual gala at the Paramount Theater on April 7.

Among the winners, Jael Morel Becerra, a senior digital entertainment technology major from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, said that the best part was working with her team. 

“It was an incredible learning and celebrating experience, being back at the paramount made it even better,” Becerra said. “Getting to see everyone’s film on the big screen was incredible and getting to see the animation that we worked on so much, on the screen was truly unreal.”

During 2021 due to COVID-19, FilmFest was limited in capacity and was not able to be held at the Paramount Theater. The 17th annual FilmFest was announced last year that the gala would be in the Beauchamp Amphitheater.

Production teams were allowed to submit animations and short films to the awards. Becerra worked on the project “To the Moon” which was an animated short film.

“From storyboarding to 3D modeling, materials, animating and compositing everything in Unreal, we truly had a lot on our plate,” Becerra said. “We had a team of 6 people and still spent countless hours in the Lab animating and rendering our Final product. All the hard work paid off and we got to see our work displayed on the big screen at the paramount for this year’s Filmfest.”

Students were also allowed to work on multiple films if wanted, Holly Reichlin worked on “The Bellicose and the Reverie”, “Ruby letters,” “Deja Vu” and “Know I’m in Love.”

“This year’s film fest was a huge learning experience for me,” Reichling, a freshman Multimedia major from San Antonio said.  I’ve never made a film before so it was really nerve-racking for me to share it with my family and peers, especially when I’m competing against people who have so much talent.”

Reichling is also a finalist and winner of the script call award. Reichling said she was surprised about the award, however, feels validated by her peers to continue on with this career path.

“I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity and I cannot wait to see how my script’s improved and developed over time but I’m still in shock from the overwhelming amount of joy from when they called my name,” Reichling said. “To have my work validated by professionals, I felt heard and it gave me some confidence that I’m choosing the right career path.”

The film entries were as follows:

• “All in Love”
• “The Bellicose and the Reverie”
• “Deja Vu”
• “Face Down”
• “Know I’m in Love”
• “The Legend of Lake Fort Phantom”
• “Ruby Letters”
• “Sola Nocte”
• “The Word”
• “To the Moon”
• “#TheWord”

The awards were given out as follows:

• Best Picture – “Face Down”
• People’s Choice – “Sola Nocte”
• Best Director – Kaden Vasquez, “Face Down”
• Best Producer – Jael Morel, “To the Moon”
• Best Writer – Ryland Mallett, “Face Down”
• Best Editor – Kaden Vasquez, “Face Down”
• Best Cinematography – Tres Cox, “Sola Nocte”
• Best Production Designer – Lettie Jane Myers, “Ruby Letters”
• Best Sound Designer – Katie Pantoja, “To the Moon”
• Best Actor – Hayden Casey, “Face Down”
• Best Actress – Chloe Munson, “Face Down”