Campus Movie Fest Returns to UNCP, Holds Student Short Film Competition
Campus Movie Fest returned to UNCP to host a student film competition in which 55 teams would submit videos to place in the 16 spots and top awards. The event was held on Nov. 2 in UC Annex at 7:30.
According to their website, “Campus Movie Fest is the world’s largest student film festival, the premier outlet for the next generation of filmmakers, with more than one million students at colleges and universities worldwide getting the chance to tell their stories through film.”
Campus Movie Fest’s staff travel to each university to allow students to create a video within a week with a theme of their choice that conveyed any type of emotion whether it be happiness, sadness, anger or empowerment. The students came up with different kinds of videos in hopes of winning the four top awards in the competition. These were the Audience, Silver Tripod, Best Performance and Jury awards.
The staff, with help from secret judges, deliberated to choose the final 16. The films picked for the first four awards were Curse of 1 University Dr., Retina, Perfection, Escape the Thought pt. 1, Escape the Thought pt. 2, A Letter to You, Anhedonia, Dreamchasers, Take the Time, As a Black Woman I Stand, Most Days are Bad Days, Everything is Better Loud, Invisible, Sage, This Is Me and For a Bigger Cause.
The event was hosted by this year’s homecoming king and queen, Paul Anderson and Cheona Emanuel. They opened with putting the audience on the Movie Fest snapchat for the premiere and introducing the staff members of Movie Fest.
The event’s door prizes for audience members were Beats by Dre, Echo Dot, Fire TV Stick, Drone and 32-inch TCL Roku TV. The hosts would draw a raffle ticket or choose the top tweet from different quotes on Twitter.
They started with the first four movie showings: Curse of 1 University Dr., Retina, Perfection and Escape the Thought pt. 1.
Curse of 1 University Dr. was a film about a curse on the campus street from an ancient burial ground.
Retina was about a student having a bad day with an ending left up to the interpretation of the audience.
Perfection is about a student trying to balance a lot of work in college while trying out for a part in a play. However, after hearing her friends gossip about her behind her back, she commits suicide.
Escape the Thought pt. 1 was a film depicting a student who is battling depression and fighting with a “voice” in his head.
Anderson and Emanuel returned to deliver the first door prize which was the Amazon Fire Stick. Then they drew a raffle ticket and a student won a 32-inchTCL Roku TV.
The next four movie showings were A Letter to You, Anhendonia, Dreamchasers and Take the Time.
A Letter to You was about a girl meeting a guy and believing that everything was great until he tried to come onto her.
Anhendonia was about a boy going through bullying, losing his mom and developing depression. He stayed on the phone with his friend only to drop it while the depression consumed him.
Dreamchasers was about two students running or chasing something.
Take the Time was a dance video with multiple students dancing to a song.
The hosts return to keep the momentum going for the next few films and to deliver the next door prize.
“Are you guys having a good time tonight?” Emanuel asked before the crowd erupted in cheers.
Anderson introduced the new top tweet, roasts the hosts and gave out an Echo Dot to the student.
The hosts, with the help of the Movie Fest staff, did a t-shirt toss to the audience.
Emanuel spun around to toss the last t-shirt into the crowd. Then, Anderson did another raffle drawing and a student won Beats by Dre.
The next four films were As a Black Woman I Stand, Most Days are Bad Days, Everything is Better Loud and Escape the Thought pt. 2.
As a Black Woman I Stand was about a black woman achieving her goals after being told she couldn’t.
Most Days are Bad Days was about a student who tries to continue his life after the death of a love one while coping with depression.
Everything is Better Loud was about the impact on how music can affect a person.
Escape the Thought pt. 2 was the sequel film of part 1, but despite trying to ignore that “voice” until it went away, the student realizes he forgot his birthday then commits suicide.
“Those were our favorite ones so far,” Anderson said to the audience. “What about you guys?”
The audience responded with cheers and scattered hand claps.
Then, the “best dressed” competition commenced. Members of PAC (Pembroke Activities Council) gave green bracelets to the students who they believed had the best outfit that night. The hosts asked the audience to decide who they thought were the best dressed. Asia Harrison won the most cheers for her best dressed attire.
The final movie showings were Invisible, Sage, This is Me and For a Bigger Cause.
Invisible’s story line followed a girl who feels throughout her life she’s invisible.
Sage was about a “hippie” trying to explain what her everyday life is like.
This is Me was a personal documentary film about a girl’s life of surviving abuse.
For a Bigger Cause is based on a true event of the Greensboro, NC sit-in.
After all the movies were shown, the staff showed clips of the highlights and the other films that didn’t make the 16.
Then the hosts came back to give out the last door prize which they drew the name of the people from some of the films. They pulled the director of This is Me and she won a $100 Delta Airline gift card.
The Movie Fest staff showed the names of award winners on the screen.
The Audience award went to For a Better Cause. The Silver Tripod award went to Take the Time. Best Performance award went to Tremon Massy who played “the voice” in Escaped the Thought pt. 1 and 2. The Jury awards went to Escape the Thought pt. 1, Escape the Thought pt. 2, A Letter to You and For a Bigger Cause.
