The student-created film, Courting, won best picture at the 22nd annual FilmFest Awards Gala on Friday. Students received awards in eleven individual categories and two overall film categories. 

Abbey Monroe, junior multimedia major from Prospect, Kentucky, worked on five films, and she directed, produced and edited Courting. She also won best sound designer for Griefer’s Rehab.

“That was really satisfying to see it all come together on screen,” Monroe said, “because there’s a lot you don’t see a lot of work that these people put into the film. That was such validation for all of the hard work that we had put into telling the story.”

Monroe said she knew most of the people on her crew since she had worked with them before. However, she said she wanted to add a new mix of people to help give them experience working on a film set, which she said alum Shelby Byrd did for her last year.

“You learn a lot of valuable knowledge about the language and the process in the classroom,” Monroe said. “But when you’re on set, you see it actually happen, and it’s just such a rich experience to be there and to be in the midst of the filmmaking process.”

One of the biggest challenges of working with a crew is balancing everyone’s busy schedule, Monroe said. 

“All these amazing, talented people, they also have lives,” Monroe said. “There was a lot of pre-production that was involved, so that it would save us a lot of time and that we would come in knowing already what we were wanting to shoot.”

One of her personal challenges on set was working with her Type 1 diabetes. Monroe said members of the crew would help take care of her and get her sugar when she needed it. 

“I would be on set for courting and just had to sit down because we were standing for so long or moving around so much,” Monroe said. “That was just always sweet to have people around me who understood.”

While Monroe is now an award-winning filmmaker, she said just getting to work on films is a win in itself.

“You celebrate as many wins as a type one diabetic,” Monroe said. “I’ve had it since I was nine years old, and so just getting to live my dream and not let diabetes interfere with that has been a really cool, fulfilling process.”

FilmFest is an event that brings together alumni.

Olivia Cromis graduated in December but got to work on multiple projects this year. She won three individual awards: Best Producer- After Emmy, Best Writer- Keeping up with the King and Best Editor- Epoch. 

“Last year I won Best Voice Actor and Best writer,” Cromis said. “It really feels like a huge honor to win best writer two years in a row, because I think that is the skill that I am most proud of, is my writing. But winning best editor really means a lot to me.”

Cromis said she is proud of how much she has grown since the first film she ever made. She said working with a crew has been one of the best parts of the experience.

“[You learn] the ability to find a community of people who are eager and willing to shoulder the burden with you, to carry this thing over the finish line,” Cromis said. “If it were just me doing it, like my first film, it would not have happened to the level that it happened.”

FilmFest is a great time to take “big swings,” and use resources like equipment and mentors while in college, Cromis said. 

“I know how a production works from beginning to end, maybe not so much in a professional sense, but I can do the thing,” Cromis said. “Instead of just reading a textbook, talking about it, I’ve gone out there and done the thing, and it has happened, and I’ve even shown it for an audience.”

She said her experience has taught her valuable lessons for post-graduation. This summer will be the second time she works on a film with other alumni.

“It’s great that I get to have creatives to bounce ideas off of and help critique one another’s work,” Cromis said. “Iron sharpening iron, that’s the best way to learn and grow, is to have people around you who challenge you to get better.”

Both Cromis and Monroe said the FilmFest community helped them connect with their peers. Monroe said FilmFest is one of the best film festivals she has ever been to.

“Everyone comes and just fills that room up with excitement,” Monroe said, “and just so many sweet people come and want to see the films that we make, and that just means so much.”

Below is the complete list of FilmFest results.