http://www.centralfloridafuture.com/candid-footage-wins-web-contest-1.1816137
Monday, August 24, 2009
UCF Film student, Craig Calamis wins Web Award!
UCF Film student, Craig Calamis wins Web Award! Check out the link to the full story.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Recent UCF MFA Grad Screens Film in Shanghai
When a young nurse takes a job in a secluded, 1970s Florida nursing home, she faces the harsh realities of caring for ailing patients. Her troubles become even greater when she learns of her superior’s unauthorized use of morphine to relieve people’s pain.
Created by recent University of Central Florida graduate Laura Lopez, “Acts of Mercy” was screened this week in China at the 12th-Annual Shanghai International Film Festival. Lopez, a first-time feature director from Ecuador, worked on the film while at UCF as part of its graduate MFA program in Film & Digital Media.
The Shanghai screening was the world premiere of Lopez’s unique and groundbreaking ethical thriller. The Chinese film festival ran from Saturday, June 13, through Sunday, June 21.
Lopez directed, wrote and produced “Acts of Mercy” with a creative and technical team made up mostly of women. Producer Erica Harrell, a Cuban-American, produced her first independent feature films while working as a coordinator on HBO’s hit television series “Entourage.”
Harrell and Lopez met in 2004 while both were undergraduate students at UCF and kept in close contact over the years to work on the film’s concept.
Made with a small budget, “Acts of Mercy” was shot in 2007 in 90-degree weather at the abandoned Sunland Mental Hospital in west Orlando. The film stars two-time Emmy and four-time Tony nominee Toyah Feldshuh and up-and-coming actress Aleksa Palladino.
Palladino will soon be seen in the HBO-Martin Scorsese series, “Boardwalk Empire,” while Feldshuh is currently performing as Irene Gupty in her Broadway hit show, “Irena’s Vow.“
Lopez graduated from UCF’s three-year Entrepreneurial Digital Cinema MFA track in 2008. She began her career as an intern at several prestigious production companies, including Kennedy Marshall, Red Wagon and Jerry Weintraub productions. Shortly after, she worked for a daytime Spanish-speaking television series based out of Burbank, Calif.
Lopez has directed several short-form documentary and narrative films. She resides in Orlando, where she develops new projects for her production company, Ambrosia Films.
To learn more about “Acts of Mercy,” visit http://www.actsofmercymovie.com. To read about UCF’s MFA in Film and Digital Media and other student success stories, go tohttp://www.film.ucf.edu.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Film Fest Volunteers needed!
The Orlando Hispanic Film Festival is
proud to present its third annual
festival September 16th-20th.
This event will take place in Downtown
Orlando at the Plaza Cinema Café.
The Festival is in need of committed volunteers
to donate their time and effort to this event.
This will be a great time to learn about getting a film festival running. Volunteers are needed in the marketing department as well as during the event.
If you are interested please visit their website at www.ohfilmfestival.com.
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Contact ivon@ohfilmfestival.com for more information.
EXTRAS NEEDED!
UCF film students are needed to work on a country music video
project entitled "Lately" this summer.
The production is in desperate need of extras.
Extras are needed to create native scenes in Africa, India, and Afghanistan.
People of all ages are welcome. The shoot dates will be Aug 20 and 21.
It is a professional shoot for Gen 2 Media, and will be a great experience
and credit for everyone involved.
If anyone is interested, contact Tara (casting director) at openandfree09@gmail.com.
UCF Professor's film selected to screen at international film festival!
UCF Professor's film selected to screen at international film festival!
UCF Film Professor Christopher Harris' experimental film 28.IV.81 (Bedouin Spark) has been selected to screen at the 12th annual Antimatter Film Festival. The festival will be held October 9 to 17, 2009 in Victoria, BC, Canada.
Currently an Associate Professor of Film at the University of Central FLorida, Christopher Harris’ award winning experimental films have screened at festivals, museums and cinematheques throughout North America and Europe, including the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the VIENNALE-Vienna International Film Festival, the Avanto Film Festival in Helsinki, Finland, the Viper International Festival for Film, Video and New Media in Basel, Switzerland, and Rencontres Internationales-Paris, among many others.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
UCF Alum’s Film Festival a First for Troops in Iraq
UCF Alum’s Film Festival a First for Troops in Iraq
ORLANDO, Aug. 13, 2009 -- A University of Central Florida graduate has introduced film festivals to a whole new audience -- his fellow U.S. Army troops stationed in Iraq.
Capt. Miguel Lima, who graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Film, used a collection of UCF student films to stage the first-ever independent film festival in Iraq for U.S. troops. The July festival featured 12 short movies selected by Lima.
Lima had initially proposed that a couple of the student films be shown before the regularly scheduled movie nights on his base. After screening the UCF films, the idea of a night dedicated to the student shorts evolved.
Lima set up a festival similar to ones he had attended in Florida. He assembled a panel of five judges from his base who evaluated each film on the quality of production, story line, theme, artistic expression and overall likability. The audience of about 30 soldiers and civilians judged each film on a scale from 1 to 5.
“American Deluxe,” the quirky tale of a high-power marketing executive who trades lives with a hitchhiker, won the audience vote. “Mr. Malakai Battles the Aeroplane,” a story about a man with a sharp sense of hearing who finds happiness after becoming deaf, was the judges’ favorite.
“The fact that a diverse group of civilians and military folks came out to see it was just unreal,” Lima said.
Lima is considering continuing the festival for troops and expanding it to include a screening for Iraqis at nearby Tikrit University. Because of the feedback he has received, he’s also founding a film society on the base that screens foreign films for the troops.
Lima’s film festival accomplishment is a small part of his larger goal of keeping his film skills honed while he serves in the military.
Originally from Lake Worth, Lima came to UCF in 2002 with a desire to learn more about how films are made. At UCF, Lima’s studies focused on film production, and he served as a producer on six senior-level films.
Although he was one of the first five students accepted to UCF’s Entrepreneurial Digital Cinema Masters of Fine Arts program, Lima instead joined the Army after he earned his bachelor’s degree. He was inspired by the legacy of his grandfather, a World War II veteran who had recently passed away.
After serving in Hawaii for three years, he was deployed in January 2009 to Iraq.
Lima said his Army duties haven’t interrupted his passion for film. He even found that the military was often the perfect topic for his own short films.
He created films about training events and funny narratives that were meant to be entertainment for the officers and staff of his battalion. After noticing his filmmaking talents, Lima’s battalion commander asked him for help with a special project -- a documentary on the history of their battalion that would premiere on the night of the unit’s reunion dinner.
“For three months, I worked on reviewing old historical material and interviewing folks that had served in the battalion,” Lima said. “It was truly an honor to put what I had learned at film school to work as I shot, wrote and edited the documentary.”
Lisa Cook, a UCF film professor who taught Lima, said she is proud of his efforts to establish a presence for UCF student films in Iraq.
“It is wonderful to know that Miguel kept his film skills up to date, that they are an advantage to him in the service and that our students’ work is making life a little more pleasant for the U.S. troops,” she said.
ORLANDO, Aug. 13, 2009 -- A University of Central Florida graduate has introduced film festivals to a whole new audience -- his fellow U.S. Army troops stationed in Iraq.
Capt. Miguel Lima, who graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Film, used a collection of UCF student films to stage the first-ever independent film festival in Iraq for U.S. troops. The July festival featured 12 short movies selected by Lima.
Lima had initially proposed that a couple of the student films be shown before the regularly scheduled movie nights on his base. After screening the UCF films, the idea of a night dedicated to the student shorts evolved.
Lima set up a festival similar to ones he had attended in Florida. He assembled a panel of five judges from his base who evaluated each film on the quality of production, story line, theme, artistic expression and overall likability. The audience of about 30 soldiers and civilians judged each film on a scale from 1 to 5.
“American Deluxe,” the quirky tale of a high-power marketing executive who trades lives with a hitchhiker, won the audience vote. “Mr. Malakai Battles the Aeroplane,” a story about a man with a sharp sense of hearing who finds happiness after becoming deaf, was the judges’ favorite.
“The fact that a diverse group of civilians and military folks came out to see it was just unreal,” Lima said.
Lima is considering continuing the festival for troops and expanding it to include a screening for Iraqis at nearby Tikrit University. Because of the feedback he has received, he’s also founding a film society on the base that screens foreign films for the troops.
Lima’s film festival accomplishment is a small part of his larger goal of keeping his film skills honed while he serves in the military.
Originally from Lake Worth, Lima came to UCF in 2002 with a desire to learn more about how films are made. At UCF, Lima’s studies focused on film production, and he served as a producer on six senior-level films.
Although he was one of the first five students accepted to UCF’s Entrepreneurial Digital Cinema Masters of Fine Arts program, Lima instead joined the Army after he earned his bachelor’s degree. He was inspired by the legacy of his grandfather, a World War II veteran who had recently passed away.
After serving in Hawaii for three years, he was deployed in January 2009 to Iraq.
Lima said his Army duties haven’t interrupted his passion for film. He even found that the military was often the perfect topic for his own short films.
He created films about training events and funny narratives that were meant to be entertainment for the officers and staff of his battalion. After noticing his filmmaking talents, Lima’s battalion commander asked him for help with a special project -- a documentary on the history of their battalion that would premiere on the night of the unit’s reunion dinner.
“For three months, I worked on reviewing old historical material and interviewing folks that had served in the battalion,” Lima said. “It was truly an honor to put what I had learned at film school to work as I shot, wrote and edited the documentary.”
Lisa Cook, a UCF film professor who taught Lima, said she is proud of his efforts to establish a presence for UCF student films in Iraq.
“It is wonderful to know that Miguel kept his film skills up to date, that they are an advantage to him in the service and that our students’ work is making life a little more pleasant for the U.S. troops,” she said.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Zombietober fest call for submissions
On September 25, 2009 Audubon Park Garden District is holding Zombietoberfest. This event will have several elements to it a zombie parade where zombies take over Corrine Drive, there will be an area where bands dressed like zombies will perform, a beer garden and a film fest where we will show a series of short zombie films.Zombietoberfest is looking for local student films to screen for the film portion. If you would like to submit your film please pick up a submission form in the front office. More info to come.
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