Sundance might be over for the year, but there is a new reason for film festival followers to rejoice — Boston University’s very own festival premieres later this month.
The Redstones, presented by the College of Communication’s department of film and television, displays feature films created by graduate and undergraduate students in the spring and fall 2014 semester production classes. After student directors submit their films, seven finalists are chosen, judged and, if lucky, awarded from a variety of categories, including Best Film, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay and more.
The festival, named for Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone, wasn’t always this extensive, however.
“The Redstones started fairly small,” said Paul Schneider, the chairman of the department of film and television. “There was just the screening in Boston. We only had a couple of awards, and they’ve expanded now … More people will get acknowledged, which is great.”
The number of award categories isn’t all that has increased over the years. The festival also features films from a growing variety of topics and genres. From a romantic dramedy about two exes to a documentary about a female cab driver in Tianjin, China, the 2015 Redstones cover a lot of ground.
“It’s an interesting film festival,” said Bryan Sih, a 2014 COM graduate and finalist in this year’s festival. His submission, “Winter/Spring,” follows the delicate and troubled marriage of two immigrant farmhands.
“There’s usually a variety of films, some documentaries that are pretty impressive, some comedies and dramas. Somehow, they’re all sort of bunched together. That leads to a pretty weird viewing experience. But it’s usually interesting work,” he said.
The Redstones are held in Boston each February, followed by screenings in both New York and Los Angeles later in the spring. The films are judged in both Boston and Los Angeles, and the winning students are rewarded with the latest film technology from the festival’s sponsors.
“Instead of cash, Canon gives out cameras and lenses,” Schneider said. “Avid gives out their stuff too — Pro Tools, their editing systems and so on. And that’s great. The students are now getting cameras and accessories and all kinds of interesting software. The amount that Canon and Avid give us is quite a bit more than what we were ever able to give out in prizes before.”
These tech prizes are meant to aid winners with their future film endeavors by providing tools to work with. However, the finalists were quick to express that even just attending the screenings is enough to help develop their careers as young filmmakers.
“If you win the festival in Boston, it’s great because you get to travel around to L.A. and New York,” said Sara Doering, a finalist and second-year graduate student in COM. “It’s a great way to work with alumni from BU and to be in these cities, which is obviously amazing. So it doesn’t just end with the Boston Redstones.”
Jack Garrett, another finalist and 2014 graduate of COM, said the value of a director being present for the screening of their film cannot be discounted.
“When you’re in the audience and you can hear people laugh, you get immediate feedback,” Garrett said. “I’ve had a few people come up to me after a few other screenings that I had and say that it meant something to them, so that’s huge.”
The Redstones have a history of helping student filmmakers, Schneider said, and many past winners have gone on to become some of America’s most successful directors, screenwriters and producers.
“The Redstones have been a terrific stepping stone for a lot of our students who have gone on to successful careers,” Schneider said. “I just got an email the other day from one of our alums, Chris Koch. He’s directed a lot of TV, including ‘Modern Family,’ and he now has a new show on ABC called ‘Galavant.’ He was one of the Redstone winners, way back.”
While the Redstones benefit the students featured, the event’s organizers and the young filmmakers said they encourage the public to attend the screenings and enjoy the films as well.
“People should come up and enjoy the festival,” Schneider said. “Each year, the films are so totally different that you never know what you’re going to see or get. I encourage everybody to show up.”
The Redstones in Boston are on Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. at BU’s Tsai Performance Center.
