School of Filmmaking presents free screenings of fourth-year films
The nationally ranked School of Filmmaking at University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) will present 10 short films by graduating seniors in free screenings on Friday, May 4. Screenings are at 3 and 8 p.m. in the theaters of ACE Exhibition Complex on the UNCSA campus at 1533 South Main St.
The screenings will last approximately two hours and 20 minutes, and will include:
“Alma”
Written by Bridgett Anderson and Grant Conversano; produced by Kevin Cutrara and Abe Bengio; directed by Conversano. A middle school girl from Venezuela is new to the North Carolina public school system. Unlike the other loud kids on the school bus, Melodia lives most of her life in her head. She puts her energy into writing a novel about Alma, a girl who must choose between leaving with a pack of werewolves to lead a life of fantasy, or staying stuck in her hospital bed.
On the set of "Alma." / Photo: Wayne Reich
“Asylum Harbor”
Written by Justin Sanchez and Scott Smoot; produced by Emmilee Millhouse; directed by Teresa Nieto; animation by Sanchez, Smoot and Nieto. A fisherman caught in a treacherous storm encounters a monster from the deep and must find his way back to shore with the help of his son, who is in a nearby lighthouse.
“Compulsion”
Written by Charles Witosky and Keifer Albin; produced by Witosky and Emmilee Millhouse; directed by Andrew Haworth. Valerie wants a regular life for her son Christian, whose crippling form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder causes him to constantly think violent thoughts. When Christian is found in bed with a knife, his stepfather decides to take matters into his own hands. Things go very, very wrong.
"Compulsion" will be screened on May 4.
“The Drinking Gourd”
Written by Moriah Hall and Kate St. Onge; produced by Charlie Witosky and Hall; directed by Bridgett Anderson. An optimistic young girl named Sugar finds comfort living on a Southern slave plantation, but her perception of home begins to deteriorate when the master's bitter daughter torments her relentlessly. Searching for a better life, Sugar’s grandmother plots to escape the plantation, but the girl’s infatuation with her home stalls her family’s plan.
A scene from "The Drinking Gourd."
“Idlewild”
Written by Jack McLain and Lauren Henderson; produced by Henderson; directed by McLain. In the mid-1960s, a paleontologist living out in the wilderness uncovers a major dinosaur fossil which she must protect from the malevolent boss on an encroaching construction site. With the clock ticking to save her discovery, she must form an unlikely friendship with a bumbling construction worker.
“No Sanctuary”
A documentary produced by Emmilee Millhouse and Moriah Hall; directed by Nathan Knox. On June 17, 2015, Dylann Roof shot and killed nine African Americans in the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. At his bond hearing, several family members of the “Emmanuel 9,” as they have come to be known, surprised the entire nation when they stood before the court and outwardly forgave Roof. Through a collection of interviews, trial footage, home videos and personal testimonies, this documentary explores the lives of these families and their search for answers.
"No Sanctuary" is a documentary about "The Emmanuel 9."
“The Rabbit”
Written by Savannah Gisleson; produced by Kevin Cutrara and Matseliso Tlelai; directed by Gisleson. In a pre-apocalyptic world, a young girl finds sisterhood in the arms of a girl gang, The Menagerie. With the world burning behind her, she’s faced with the question of how far she is willing to go for “family.”
"The Rabbit" will be screened on May 4.
“Roaches 2 the Rescue”
Written by Nolan Morgenstern; produced by Shamus Sass and Ebony Cawthorne; directed by Hannah Lane. Featuring puppetry and live-action, the film centers around Charlie, an inept roach who must save his older brother, Karl, from the clutches of evil: a teenage boy with a penchant for torturing insects.
"Roaches 2 the Rescue" will be screened on May 4.
“Sodium Vapor Nights”
Written by Marylea Wiley; produced by Dorian Thomas and Shelby Adele Tyre; directed by Brian Ferenchik. A daughter breaks the rules of her family’s world to gain her father’s approval.
A scene from "Sodium Vapor Nights."
“Voyager PEN-15”
Written by G. Chandler Cearley and Emmet Padgett; produced by Abe Bengio and Matseliso Tlelai; directed by Katia Czartorysky. A young space station janitor who dreams of becoming an astronaut and his pessimistic middle-aged custodial partner accidently launch themselves into space while stuck aboard the Voyager PEN-15. Or so they think… Upon awakening from a seven-year, accidentally induced cryogenic sleep, the would-be cosmonaut discovers he’s aboard a nuclear warhead sent to blow up an alien planet, and he must rekindle his outrageous ambitions to save the alien race.
"Voyager Pen-15" will be screened on May 4.
The School of Filmmaking is ranked No. 8 in the nation by The Wrap, the leading digital news organization serving the business of media and entertainment, and at No. 14 by The Hollywood Reporter, a premier print and digital publication focused on the film, television and entertainment industries. In addition, MovieMaker magazine included the school in its list of 40 best film schools in the U.S. and Canada.
April 18, 2018