Film collective hosting 48-hour festival

All films will be made start-to-finish in two-day period

From “Sweet Escape,” written and directed by Max Price '11

With a revamped focus and name, the Brandeis Film Collective (BFC) is hosting the 48-hour Film Festival the weekend of April 8th. All submissions are to be written, cast, filmed and edited in a 48-hour span.

The festival is open to Brandeis students, and BFC encourages all to participate. Members of the film collective say that larger teams have an advantage.

BFC will give clues to participating teams to provide structure for the films. Past clues were to name a character "Pierre Debonair," include the line, "I've been lied to and very much deceived" and use a giant suitcase as a prop.

The first-place winner will receive a $100 gift certificate and second place a $50 gift certificate.

The film collective has no formal positions or officers. Max Price '11, a member, says that is in sync with the group approach to film-making. "We are all about collaborative film experience," he says. "Anybody can have an idea for a movie, and everyone comes together to brainstorm."

He says the way the festival is organized, with everything done start-to-finish in 48 hours, is useful in helping students understanding the process of filmmaking, because "it occurs in a concentrated segment of time."

In fall 2009, the film club Works in Progress changed its name to Brandeis Film Collective. Price says that this change was intended to "re-focus and re-start the club because it had essentially died." Price was a member of Works in Progress during his freshmen year, and is part of BFC, which currently has 10 regular members.

Price made his first film with Works in Progress during the 48-hour Film Festival of his freshman year. This year, Price received a grant to screen his short film, "Sweet Escape," during the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts, at 8 p.m. May 1 in the Mandel Center. Everyone involved is in BFC.  "Half the battle," he says, "is getting people where they need to be when they need to be there" - a problem eliminated by the 48-hour approach.

Works in Progress organized the 48-hour Film Festival roughly annually. The winning movie of the 48-hour festival in 2009 was "The Bakers" and the 2008 winner was "A Complicated Mystery." While the festival did not occur last year, it's a "tradition among Brandeis filmmakers," says Price.

BFC planned and hosted the inaugural weekend of Indie Louies student-run film festival last spring. During Indie Louies, BFC hosted a speaker event, a 48-hour Film Festival and a program of student-produced films. Approximately two-thirds of the submissions were from Brandeis students; the rest were from film students at other universities. All had to be less than 30 minutes in length. Awards were given in 13 categories ranging from the traditional, such as Best Picture, to the less traditional, such as the "ROTFLMFAO" award for humor.

BFC also hosted Indie Louies Fall 2010. The weekend began with a 90-minute film competition; BFC designed clues and provided equipment. Screenings took place in Chums, and the winning team received a $200 gift certificate. BFC concluded the weekend with screenings of student films including submissions from Temple University and MIT.

BFC is looking for new members, and meets in Getz Media Lab on Thursdays at 9 p.m. Sign up for the 48-hour Film Festival from Friday, April 8th to Sunday, April 10th.

Categories: Arts, Student Life

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