SUNYWide Film Festival 8 Aftermath; 11.14.17

SUNYWide Film Festival 8 Aftermath; 11.14.17

Hey everyone! I hope all is well with school and work and life. At this point in the semester, I know a lot of people are kind of starting to go crazy. I, on the other hand, feel a great amount of relief. This past weekend was the 8th annual SUNYWide Film Festival, which my friends and I had been working very hard to organize. Since the beginning of the fall semester, we'd been working to design all the posters, flyers, and postcards to advertise the event. We worked out catering menus, snack and drink tables, and a wine bar. We had to sell advertising to pay for all of this, and lay it out in a program that showcased all we had been working for. It was a lot of work, and now that it's over, a great relief to no longer worry about it every day.

The weekend went relatively smoothly. The first night, our opening gala, featured a live jazz band, wine and hors d'oeuvres, and everyone dressed to the nines. We heard a few words from some of the people who made the event possible, all while mingling and networking.

On Friday we enjoyed hours and hours and hours and hours... of programming. From 9 am until 2 am we saw student films, faculty films, had the opportunity to attend hands-on workshops from animation professionals, music composers, canon representatives, and more. After a lunch break from one of the food trucks available for the event, USA Network's executive producer and writer of the hit show Mr. Robot, Kyle Bradstreet, gave an inspiring speech, showed some clips of his work, and spoke to the audience during a Q&A session. At midnight, we had a special screening to honor the late George A. Romero. After an opening speech from Buff State alum and local filmmaker Kyle Mecca, we had a screening of the 1968 "Night of the Living Dead." Of all the films I saw that day, I have to give a shout out to one that really touched my heart; "Eddie, Milo, and the Box" by Issack Cintron.

Saturday morning brought the awards ceremony and raffle drawing, where students were given thousands of dollars worth of merchandise and equipment from our sponsors. The awards, as listed on the SUNYWide Film Festival website, are...

Grand Jury Award: Torin Murphy, "other real"

Narrative

Winner:  Anthony Riso, "Fraud"

Honorable Mention: Vincent DiVirgilio, "Beyond the Sea"

Documentary

Winner:  Heather Bey, "The Fierce Five Percent: Women in the Sound Industry"

Honorable Mention: Heather Mezynski, "Silver"

Animation

Winner:  Sarah Gaygen, "Kamunyak"

Honorable Mention:  Mattea Guldy, "La Luz"

Experimental

Winner:  Quinn Lachler, "Losing It"

Honorable Mention:  Sam Eisenbaum, "Ode to You and I"

Audience Choice Award:  Jordan Tetewsky, "Bolue Vience"

So that's a wrap for this year's festival. I am honored to have been a part of it, and can only hope for the best in the years to come. Thank you to everyone who supported the event, it is much appreciated.

We are still selling t-shirts through our website, get them while you can!