The Salt Lake Community College Student Association pulled out all the stops for the 7th annual SLCCSA Film Festival. They had the room decorated in black and silver, with table décor that looked like exploding fireworks. The decorations reflected the general feelings of the audience and excitement.
“This is my second year submitting a film to the festival,” says Valerie Douroux, SLCC student who is graduating this year. “I submitted a film into the commercial category. The film festival is amazing, it gives students incentive to find new ideas and create their projects. It’s awesome.”
Attendees watched small portions of the top three nominated films in each of the categories, and then the winners were announced. Winners received various Apple products, from iPods to iPads, with the first place winning a MacBook Air.
The first place winner was a film by Daniel Bosler called, “Platinum Whites.” Based on the audience’s reaction to the video, it was clear that it was well deserving of the first place trophy.
The film was submitted under the commercial category and showcased a gunfight between two men. It opens with a rather rough looking cowboy with particularly bad looking set of teeth. He challenges the sheriff by saying, “What’s the matter? Ya yella?” while smirking and showing off his bad teeth. The sheriff responds with, “No, I use Platinum Whites.” He cracks a big smile and blinds the bad guy with his pearly whites, getting the drop on him in the gunfight.
The second place winner was a film by Landon Kraczek called “The Inventor’s Dream.” It showcased an inventor who was at a tough time in life and wasn’t very successful. He then had this idea to build a wind-powered turbine that produced electricity. He wanted to use this invention to provide power for small islands that didn’t have a sustainable source of power. These small islands used diesel-powered generators to provide power for the whole island. The video had an emotional aspect to it that really drew the audience in. At one point, the inventor got a little choked up and you could have heard a pin drop. The audience was so involved, it seemed like they weren’t breathing.
The third place winner was a film called “Clueless” by Cameron Perry. It took place in a diner with a boyfriend and girlfriend sitting across from each other. The girlfriend, Beth told her boyfriend, Elijah, “The Dr. tells me I somehow caught the pregnant,” which Elijah does not understand how this is possible.
Some of the other highlights of the evening included a film by Joseph Olivias called “The Man from Sorrow,” submitted under the Drama category.
The audience witnessed an old cowboy walking across an open prairie carrying a heavy rock. He then walked up to a pile of rocks, and inside the pile of rocks was a man. The man opened his eyes and said, “I’m sorry.” The old cowboy replied with, “I know.” He then placed the rock over the face. Olivias set the tone with music of the film, as well as the actor’s facial expressions.
Another film that garnered huge audience participation was a film called, “Caterpillar Randy” by Keenan Panti. It was submitted under the comedy category and portrayed an individual in a sleeping bag who had a new girlfriend. The various scenes included “Randy” being very excited that his girlfriend was coming over to his house, and them going for a walk. The audience had lots of laughs while watching this film which won second place for comedy.
“I submitted a film called ‘Robot Love,’” says Marcos Chard, current SLCC student and filmmaker. “It didn’t get nominated, but this is just my first time entering. I have learned so much and there is always next year.”
The audience shared Chard’s enthusiasm for the film festival, and cheered and laughed right along with the filmmakers.
For those interested in seeing all of the films submitted for the film festival visit http://slccfilmfestival.blogspot.com.
