Film Fest is a Moving Success

The first annual PSU Poets & Writers Student Film Showcase was held Tuesday, May 4, in the Boyd lecture hall, and those who attended the event were treated to an assortment of clever and inventive student pictures ranging from reality road trips to slapstick horror. The Student Film Showcase was created in order to reinforce the importance of the arts on campus and to provide students who want to explore different mediums of expression an opportunity to venture slightly outside of the box. With art, music and writing already recognized staples of PSU association, it only seemed natural to add film and visual communication to the collective artistic mix.The screening offered six student movies: Sunglasses at Night by Casey Bishop, Art for Art’s Sake by Jade Sisti, Broke by Matt Bonin, Our Collective Knows Volume’s One and Two by Nate Burcalow and Ryan Sturgis, and The Plot by Mike Longo. The rules for submitting to the competition were simple: the motion picture must be ten minutes or less. Each film proved to be very diverse in content and approach, so this simple ten minute guideline was the only thing uniting these creative concoctions. The selection process to determine the winning film was left up to a democratic audience vote, and with a very promising turnout, each work was given a great deal of feedback and support.The second and third place films were both volumes of, Our Collective Knows by Nate Burcalow and Ryan Sturgis. Their combined efforts chronicled a road trip they took to New Orleans in March 2003 when the United States was on the verge of declaring war on Iraq. Their humorous, real-to-life picture revealed their dedication to going on with life despite the potential distress and sorrow that could be experienced as a result of this tragic occurrence.The grand prize winner was Mike Longo, whose Michel Moore-esq film The Plot mixed in an array of American symbols of power, underground beliefs, and disturbing hallucinogenic images with an exceptionally driving and powerfully appropriate soundtrack. Longo was awarded a $100 cash prize, and each runner up received either inflatable light-sabers or PSU Poets & Writers bumper stickers. Special thanks would like to be extended to Dr. Paul Rogalus and film buff Matt Howes for their time and effort in making this showcase a successful event. If anyone is interested in improving on and/or continuing this event for next year and in the years to come, they can contact Dr. Rogalus for more information.