 "Photo: BECKY CARLSON/MANITOU MESSENGER")
While there was no red carpet rolled out for this event, students packed the Pause, some wearing their best formal attire, for the third annual Interim Film Festival.
This year’s Film Festival was hosted by the Film Production Society and showcased six films ranging from comedies to thrillers to action movies. St. Olaf students revved up their video cameras and showed us what they’re made of.
The first Interim Film Festival, the brainchild of Stephanie Tanner ‘10, debuted in 2008. Shortly thereafter, Dan Haywood ‘11 created the Film Production Society, a student organization. Haywood and Tanner took similar proactive approaches to widespread campus interest in film and the lack of student outlets.
The Interim Film Festival was originally sponsored by professor of English Diana Postlethwaite. Through her sponsorship, the festival’s organizers used allotted money to buy prizes and advertise extensively throughout campus. This year, however, the festival has been completely student-run and student sponsored.
The five films up for official judging were: “Business Casual,” the story of one annoying boss, one persistent co-worker and a mystical guru; “Easy,” the thrilling tale of a diabolical plot, a break in and pie; “Touched,” the hilarious story of a modern-day Mary and Joseph; “Adele’s Revenge,” the heart-stopping thriller of a jilted lover’s revenge; and “Choice,” about the universal struggle between work and play.
A sixth film was included in the festival, although it was not open for judging in any of the official categories. Because organizers thought that it embodied the spirit of the festival, it served as the grand finale.
The film, titled “Out of Ireland Have We Come” was shot during an Interim trip to Ireland. All the students on the trip took part in the beautiful movie full of secret societies, epic chase scenes and the famous poet W.B. Yeats. The film captured the essence of the festival by uniting a group of students and creatively bringing to life the idea of the writers.
Judging these extraordinary films was sure to be a difficult task, but luckily three professors stepped up and lent a critical eye. Professors Jan Hill, Judy Kutulas and Guido Alzarez based their decisions on the quality of the films, their artistic merit and how well they embodied the spirit of the festival.
Another factor in judging was the way the movies incorporated three of the five mandatory props, lines or scenes into their movie. These mandatory items were the location of Old Main Hill, a bag of chips, the sound of a bell, an extreme long shot and the line, “After all, it’s only another week.”
Prizes were awarded for Best Film and Honorable Mention, with the awardees winning $20 gift certificates to the local Culver’s so that the crews involved with the movies could go enjoy each other’s company and celebrate their win together. The third award given out was the Viewer’s Choice, deemed the “Palm de Ole,” for which the winner received a large St. Olaf flag to proudly display.
Honorable Mention went to the cast and crew of “Adele’s Revenge,” while Best Film was given to “Easy.” The prestigious Palm de Ole was chosen based on an “applause-o-meter” rating scale with the overwhelming winner being “Out of Ireland Have We Come,” which earned a wild standing ovation.
Audience members and directors alike were impressed with the quality of the movies shown.“I thought the movies were amazing. The quality was much better than I expected for every single one and the creativity was good as well,” Joseph Molde ‘13 said.
Lauren Cummins ’13 said she was impressed by the originality of the movies and how thoughtfully they were put together.
“I was really happy with how our (film) turned out, not necessarily the quality of the film visually but with the acting and how it all came together,” said Braden Larson ‘13, the director of “Touched.”
As the term comes to a close and the Film Production Society enjoys the fruits of another successful Interim Film Festival, they are still hard at work. Tanner is graduating this spring and the Film Production Society is looking to fill her coordinator position.
If you missed any of the movies or want to watch them for a second (or third!) time you can find them all at vimeo.com/OleFPS.
arnold@stolaf.edu
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