Continuing an annual tradition, Ohio University’s second-year graduate students studying film will showcase their work from their first year to the general public.
Each of the 12 second-year students will be featured in a showing at the Athena Cinema aptly titled “Twelve Films.”
The students chose between documentary and narrative features they filmed last year during their “boot camp,” said Steven Ross, director of the School of Film and the event’s organizer.
For the documentary features, the students were given a “budget” of 13 minutes of footage; for the narrative features, they were given 35 minutes.
Throughout these projects, they learned about lighting, editing, shooting and sound, among other tools.
Each film was shot in or near Athens with the help of the School of Theater. These projects allow the opportunity for both schools to broadcast their talents and perform and work together in collaboration.
While academic classes provide the students with necessary skills — like screenwriting, editing, directing, lighting and sound — broader projects give the students freedom to explore their creative natures. The school will provide students with feedback about their projects.
Rowena Pedrena’s Particular Friendship — a black-and-white, first-person account of a nun who begins to harbor affections for another nun — will be featured in the lot. Shot on 16mm film, it explores homosexuality amid the beliefs of the Catholic Church.
Pedrena sees the opportunity to show her work at Twelve Films as a means to break into film festivals and as a way for the filmmakers to show their work to their friends and family.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to show our art,” she said.
Pedrena said she believes the Athena Cinema should continue to support such screenings because they allow young filmmakers the opportunity to expose their projects to the general public.
She added that she believes, at the end of the day, the screening is a “celebration.”
The other films include works from Zac Wells, Tim Jackson, Shay Willard, Neferkaari Mitchell, Leah Li, Gavin Farnsworth, Neha Belvalker, Patsie Varkados, Jordan Sommerlad, Lindo Mnyandu and Matt Fillmore.
wa054010@ohiou.edu
