Following two high school seniors, Brandon Sorenson and Jake Marlin, during their 2012-13 wrestling season, director Tim Jackson’s thesis film Wrestling With Iowa will get its first public screening Wednesday at the Athena Cinema.
The screening of the film is free thanks to Arts for Ohio and the Ohio University Film Division.
“I’m really happy with the film, and I’m excited to be able to show my film to friends,” Jackson said. “I have never done this before, so this is very exciting for me.”
Jackson followed the 2012-13 Iowa Wrestling Tournament to make a documentary for his thesis to complete his master’s degree.
To complete the film, the College of Fine Arts awarded Jackson the I. Hollis Parry/Ann Parry Billman Fine Arts Award in the spring of 2012. The prize carried a minimum of $5,000 and was to be used within the year the student received the award.
“We liked Jackson’s project because it was a compelling and interesting story,” Jody Lamb, the associate dean of the College of Fine Arts, told The Post in May 2012. “It was clearly focused. He had unusual contacts from out of town, and we knew that it was going to be completed.”
Hsin-ning Chang, head projectionist at the Athena, notes that thesis screenings are typically the ones that the filmmakers use when they put their films into festivals. The audience can expect to see the premiere of the work that is going to be shown in the long run, she said.
“Thesis screenings usually feel like a celebration to not only the filmmakers, but also their families, co-workers and teammates in general,” Chang said. “The work shows their efforts in the past years. Audiences could feel a sense of filmmaking community in these screenings.”
Above all else, Jackson said he is excited to have an audience experience his film. He has invited family members, MFA students and members of the wrestling team to come up and see the film. After the screening, Jackson will be screening the film in Iowa in January.
“It’s nice to hit this milestone and just look forward to what is coming in the future,” Jackson said.
Jackson said he isn’t sure what his next project will be, but he is looking forward to finding out.
“I now have to find my next adventure,” Jackson said.
wa054010@ohiou.edu
@thewillofash
