As a recent graduate, I haven’t participated in too many of the slew of Emerson Alumni events that take place in the school’s adopted sister city of Los Angeles. But I found myself excited to attend this year’s film festival they hold every spring showcasing their student’s best shorts. Not only does Maria Menounos (an alum herself) show up to hand out one of those huge cardboard checks and show off her own success, but there are some really great films that this year were presented on the big screen in Hollywood’s Egyptian theatre.
It was a great night.
Somehow I showed up late and was still able to grab the only parking slot available right in front of the theatre. I figured it was all downhill from there. Not so. Without too many administrative speeches, the show began with a strong digital documentary from Kevin Mastman titled The Cadet Experience. It definitely set the tone for an HD-heavy screening experience, used beautifully in Alexander Yan’s melancholic Of the Fog and to a campy effect in Jessica Shoen’s Glee-like Prom Date.
But my favorite of the night was Sean Hanley’s Hindsight, shot on 16mm, and the winner of the Jury’s Choice First Prize at the Black Maria Film Festival. This is a film lover’s film. Beautifully shot, tightly edited, and with the perfect combination of image and sound, this film is not just a college student’s final project. Watching a film like this stand out so expertly from the crowd of digital movies validates why some of us still spend the time and the money on the real thing.
After the screening ended, a mass of hungry, possibly broke, quite possibly unemployed Emersonians headed out to the catered snack feast in the outside courtyard. “Is the alcohol free?” was asked by many and answered by another many with a gleeful “Yes!!” I’m always awkward in these situations, and might have made one too many off-handed comments about everyone enjoying their beef-on-a-stick, but networking was a success this night. Could also have been the effects of the Stella Artois, or the sugar high from the mini cupcakes, but whatever it was that helped me get through the “I know you! You working? Where you living? Are we friends on Facebook?”: Thank You.
We’re known as the Emerson Mafia, if only among ourselves. Be jealous if you want to. Or check out what’s happening in Emerson’s Los Angeles
Check out the film's trailers here
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