The University Film Organization — or UFO — is hosting their third annual BGSU Film and Media Festival this Saturday and Sunday, and is completely free of charge.
The Film and Media Festival was designed by UFO to convey the talent of Bowling Green students by showcasing student films and allowing them to be recognized for their endeavors. The films are then entered into categorical competitions, in which are pre-judged by theater and film graduated students.
And the contestants are extremely excited to show their work during the competition. Brian Hare, a contestant, has two films that will be shown during the festival — a documentary named “King of Sing” and an experimental entry named “PSA #1.”
“The King of Sing” is about a gentleman who lives in Holland, Ohio but works in Bowling Green because he owns a karaoke business. “He’s at B-Dub’s on Wednesdays and Quarter’s on Thursdays, but most people don’t know anything about him besides that. This is just a look into his life and what it’s about,” Hare said.
Hare’s other piece, “PSA #1,” which he paired up with a friend to complete, “Is a comment on society and our infatuation with pop culture and television,” Hare said.
Besides having his work showcased during the festival, Hare is looking forward to something else — audience reaction.
“I’m looking forward to audience reaction. It’s an amazing feeling to be in a theater, especially a large one like the Gish, and having something you created projected onto the screen. The audience doesn’t have anything to prove to you, so when they laugh at a joke you made on the screen, it’s genuine,” Hare said.
UFO president Jon Wagner said that the changes made this year will really showcase all of the hard work that the participants have put into their films. “This year we tried to not only make the festival about the films, but also about the students who created the films. There’s going to be a little biography in the program about them and we are just trying to give them the credit they deserve,” Wagner said.
Besides due credit, monetary prizes, movie passes and a certificate will be awarded to one film in each of the four different categories: narrative, experimental, documentary and animation. All 18 films in the competition will be judged for the prestigious title of Best in Show, and one film will win a donated editing program from Avid.
Dave Hosmer, a senior telecommunications major and the winner of the audience award in last year’s Film Festival, which is equivalent to this year’s Best in Show award, is excited to be competing in the Film Festival again. His movie, which Hosmer began last summer, is a 15 minute comedy titled, “The Meter Maid. It is about a male meter maid who begins ticketing his love interest’s boyfriend. A crazy love triangle ensues and the meter maid starts using parking tickets to get back at the boyfriend.
Even though Hosmer is excited to show his work, he said that, “The best thing about the Film Festival will be just seeing everyone who has worked on the film together; seeing them enjoy the product of their hard work and just being able to showcase that.”
This year’s “Best in Show” award is not pre-judged and will be determined by the three guest speakers that UFO is bringing to the festival.
The three guest speakers include Art LaFleur, a noteworthy actor who is best recognized for his portrayal of “The Babe” in the movie, “The Sandlot,” Thomas Hofbauer, a veteran writer and producer from Toledo and Jay Ellison, a 2004 BGSU graduate of theater and film.
Ellison is the former UFO president of two years and the creator of the BGSU Film and Media Festival. Besides judging, the three guest speakers are also conducting presentations, screenings of their work, and question and answer sessions on the second day of the festival.
The Gish Theater will host the festival from 2:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday and will screen all of the student films that were entered into the competition. Sunday will be the guest speaker’s presentations and the awards ceremony. The location is going to change from Olscamp 115 to the Gish Theater based on the event. For a detailed schedule of the BGSU Film and Media Festival, visit UFO’s Web site at http://www.bgsu.edu/studentlife/organizations/film/ and click on events.
The contestants are proud of their hard work and dedication and really encourage students to be a part of the 2005 BGSU Film and Media Festival.
“It’s a great opportunity. Everyone loves film and everyone loves a good movie,” Hosmer said. “This is the best opportunity to see what people who are going to be making movies in the future hopefully are doing right now; it’s a good way to show support of your fellow students.”