WKU Film Festival selects winners

A film about a time-traveler and an experimental narrative charting a paperboy’s descent into madness were the most lauded films at the 20^th annual Western Kentucky Film Festival. Winners were announced at an awards ceremony on May 9 in the Mass Media and Technology Auditorium on WKU’s campus.

“Stitch,” a sci-fi revenge tale directed by WKU senior Brad Rea, won the night’s coveted Best Picture prize in addition to awards for Best Editing and Screenplay. “The Paperboy,” a senior honors thesis project shot on 16mm film by Louisville native Eli Kleinsmith, took home the Audience Award. In addition to their trophies, both films will receive money to go toward paying entry fees at national and international film festivals where the filmmakers plan to submit their projects. Past winners have gone on to screen at highly competitive film festivals, including the Nashville Film Festival, Louisville’s International Festival of Film, the Asheville Cinema Festival, and the Imagine Film Festival in Amsterdam.

The festival handed out awards in 15 categories. Winners were selected by a panel of film industry professionals who are either alumni or supporters of WKU’s film major.

“It’s been great to see the festival grow and expand since the inception of the major in Film,” said Associate Professor of Film and festival director Ron DeMarse.

The festival also held an awards ceremony for its high school competition at a special presentation on May 7,featuring winners in 10 categories. The largest high school film competition in the state, WKU’s event received a record number of entries this year.

A rundown of the weeklong festival’s events can be found at www.westernkentuckyfilmfestival.com. A complete list of winners for both the college and high school competition is as follows:

College winners

• Best Animation – “Escape”
• Best Documentary – “Beyond Superstition”
• Best Experimental Film – “Night and Day”
• Best Music Video – “Summer Thang”
• Best Picture – “Stitch”
• Best Actor – Jim Nelson (“Peacefield”)
• Best Actress – Lena Buechler (“Hands Against the Glass”)
• Best Supporting Actor – Eric Schmidt (“Number Four”)
• Best Supporting Actress – Tabitha Perez (“The Screen Test”)
• Best Director – Charles Dillon Ward (“Immune”)
• Best Screenplay – Bradley Englert (“Stitch”)
• Best Cinematography – Charles Dillon Ward (“Immune”)
• Best Production Design – Charles Dillon Ward (“Immune”)
• Best Editing – Brad Rea (“Stitch”)
• Best Score – Dustin Seabolt & Colin Hammond (“Copycat Crush”)

High school winners

• Fiction – “The Pardoner’s Tale”; Apakorn Burapharat, Sami Edgerton, Ben Sherrill & Jackson Goodman (Brentwood High School)
• Animation – “Ethan’s Project”; Ethan Greenburg (Centennial High School)
• Short Shorts – “A Day in the Life of a Chinchilla: The Seymour Story”; Matthew Matheny (Independence High School)
• Year Ender – “Inch by Inch”; Zach Boisjoly & Sam Brancheau (Fred J. Page High School)
• Feature News – “Dennis Lampley – Athletic Legacy”; Hayden DeLozier & Dodge Fielden (Trinity High School)
• Documentary – “Arcane Atlas: A Start to the Stage”; Conner Holmes & Drew Brown (Brentwood High School)
• Experimental – “Pretty Vacant”; Lorelei L. Mallon (Nashville School of the Arts)
• Music Video – “The Bad Rabbit Rap”; Jonathan Schaefer & Jeremy Schaefer (Bowling Green High School)
• PSA/Ad – “The Mother Earth”; Parker Morley & Ian Huber (Independence High School)
• Newscast – “First Broadcast”; Zach Boisjoly & Steele Palombo (Fred J. Page High School)

Contact: Dr. Jerod Ra’Del Hollyfield, (865) 567-9904, (270) 745-3242 or jerod.hollyfield@wku.edu