Casual movie buffs and film students alike competed to make an award-winning picture in the Campus Movie Fest from Oct. 16 to Oct. 22.
The 2019-2020 Campus Movie Fest tour expects to visit 50 universities across the country. This past week, MU students were given the opportunity to submit their best five-minute movie using either the company’s equipment or their own.
“At the end of the day, you get to create something that you’ve never created before, and it’s absolutely free,” promotions manager Luna Ramirez said.
An anonymous judge panel from the university will pick their top 16 movies to be premiered at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 24 in Jesse Auditorium. The top four films will receive the Jury Award and represent MU at a June film festival in Hollywood, California. This will be the Campus Movie Fest’s third year visiting Columbia.
“We’ve seen some pretty cool stuff,” Ramirez said. “We always tell students, ‘We’re not looking for ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ but some of them really strive to give us that. It’s just a variety of what the student is willing to try out.”
Film production major and sophomore Sofia Voss made the top four at last year’s festival for her comedic horror film “La Belle.” that led her to the national competition in Atlanta. Her inspirations are directors Richard Linklater and David Lynch, and she is making a return to this year’s fest with another parody.
“I tend to gravitate more towards either comedies or coming-of-age types because those are just the two areas that I really enjoy,” Voss said. “This is the only thing I can see myself doing.”
Senior Michael Berry is also a film production major and a top four finalist from last year’s Campus Movie Fest. His winning film “Cult Capades” took the comedic route, which he intends to take again this year. Berry has always been intrigued by sketch comedies like “Mr. Show” and “Saturday Night Live.” He is a big fan of “The Muppets” creator Jim Henson, and says that he even tries to internalize his creativity when storytelling.
“I’ve been making videos for the better part of my life, so when I got time to, being in college, it just made perfect sense to do,” Berry said. “I like to be funny and I like to make people laugh.”
The Campus Movie Fest paves the way for college students across the country looking for a way to share their artistic vision. One week’s visit to MU could open the door for the next big movie star or director.
_Edited by Janae McKenzie | jmckenzie@themaneater.com_
