As a part of the annual Ann Arbor Film Festival, this Wednesday evening, March 28th from 5-7 p.m., featured a free showcase of student films, created by University of Michigan students, as well as students from Eastern Michigan University, Washtenaw Community College, College for Creative Studies, Interlochen Arts Academy, and Oakland Community College. In total, 15 short films were shown, each film standing apart from the others in uniqueness of concept and subject. There were only a select few films that I really liked, including “Instructions for Urban Exploration,” a dance film by Perry Janes, Noah Stahl, and Sadie Yarrington, all University of Michigan students. The film was shot in an abandoned warehouse in Detroit, in which a female dancer recited a poem about urban exploration, and moved as she spoke. It was beautiful! I loved the shots of her dancing in front of a wall of window-panes, a wall of light behind her, silhouetting her movement.
I also really liked “A Series of Kinetic Sets Tell A Story,” by Shannon Kohlitz, which begins with an elderly woman putting a few random objects into a box and carefully closing the top, shifting to an animated scene inside of the box, a slideshow of her memories, giving significance to the objects within her past, when she first met her husband, and they got married, and he was in the war… It was really touching. The film was dedicated to Shannon’s grandparents, with old photos of her grandparents when they were young displayed on the screen as the credits were shown. It was such a sweet and meaningful concept, with so much communicated in only 5 minutes of film.
“Listen,” created by a group of students from Washtenaw Community College, was entertaining to watch, though it felt more like an Ann Arbor music video than a meaningful film. “Belle Isle Zoo” by Barb Morrissey from Washtenaw Community College, contained an interesting subject, scenes from the dilapidated Belle Isle Zoo, however the film didn’t explore much beyond this basic subject. With eerie music, the film felt very creepy, but I think something could have been manipulated in order to have something happen in the film, like having a person standing in the ruin in the end, creeping around the corner, instead of merely showing scenes of the ruin as it is.
Another film I really enjoyed was a documentary by Scott Allen from Washtenaw Community College, called “Turn the Camera Around,” about a photographer named Doug, who takes photos of music artists for the Detroit Metro Times. Doug is a really interesting guy, and the film was really well done–this is definitely not your average boring documentary. It was really entertaining, heartfelt, and funny.
You can watch this film online! http://vimeo.com/22202307
Though there were a number of films I really liked, there were also some films that I just didn’t get. For instance, “Dubstep Informational Nature Video Series” created by an EMU student contained computer graphics, dubstep music, and video and images of animals, including possums, spiders, and dolphins, with silly, un-factual “facts” about these animals. Huh? Also, “Forward Aikido Roll,” a film made by a Washtenaw Community College student was also pretty goofy. This guy basically talked about how he’s the master of the Aikido Roll, basically a tumbling move, and he just kept doing it over and over again. Some people thought it was funny, but I didn’t get the joke. It seems like a lot of time and effort to put into a “film” that resembles a silly youtube video.
All in all, the student film festival made for a really entertaining evening. There were several really well-done films created by students in our community, and it is so great that these students are recognized at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, one of the most popular annual arts events in Ann Arbor.
For more information about the films shown at the 2012 student film festival, check out the website! http://aafilmfest.org/50/events/student_film_showcase/
