The first annual Commonwealth Film Festival took place in the George Sherman Union Conference Auditorium Thursday, marking the beginning of a new tradition within Boston University’s film community. The festival was organized by BU’s chapter of Delta Kappa Alpha, the national professional co-ed film fraternity, in collaboration with the Student Activities Office.
The festival was created in order to grant all members of the student body the opportunity to show off their filmmaking talent, said Ali Edwards, a junior in the College of Communication and a member of SAO’s programming team. Edwards pitched the idea of the festival to her team at SAO, and helped lead its organization.
The submissions for the festival came from students of a variety of academic backgrounds. The films were as diverse as the filmmakers themselves, ranging from quirky romances to psychological thrillers.
In order to be considered for screening, the submitters needed to fill out an online application. In addition to not exceeding the MPAA’s R-rated standard, students were required to keep the length of their submission below 15 minutes, according to the application. The low number of requirements provided students with more freedom to explore all genres of filmmaking, Edwards said.
Edwards also emphasized the importance of having an open-submission event like the Commonwealth Film Festival.
“Our goal for this film festival was a chance for everyone at BU to showcase their talent,” she said. “For the other festivals, there are so many requirements. You have to be a film student, you have to make [the film] in a class. But at this festival, everyone is welcome to submit their work.”
Sheng Chen, a junior in COM, joined Edwards as an organizer and emcee of the event. He is a member of DKA, and spoke about the roots of the festival.
“Student Activities Office approached DKA, the national co-ed professional cinema fraternity, and requested that we do an event open to all of BU,” Chen said. “Ali came up with the idea to start a film festival that accepted films from all students.”
While a few BU-sponsored film festivals do already exist on campus, Chen said that students who are not studying film do not have any opportunities to present their projects to the rest of the student body.
“There’s already the BU Redstone [Film] Festival, but that’s mainly for BU film students,” he said. “They only accept productions from classes, so that makes it more exclusive.”
The festival’s diverse content reflected the wide range of submissions. The event kicked off with a documentary about the “ehru,” a traditional Chinese musical instrument.
Following the documentary was the film “Proposal,” a narrative about a man who gets rejected after proposing to his girlfriend, but later rediscovers his faith in relationships.
The films continued to jump across genres and styles, exploring many techniques and storylines.
At the end of the film screenings, the GSU Conference Auditorium was abuzz with murmurs among the audience, expressing their praises and impressions of the films. The audience members were able to text in their votes for their favorite movie, and then the winner and runner-up were announced.
In first place was “The Devoured,” a grotesque psychological horror thriller about a man who consults with an exorcism service to rid his house of spirits. Its award for first place was justified, as it captivated the audience’s attention for its entirety and ended on a very suprising and un-cliched note.
In second place was the film “Salad,” which greatly differed from the first place film but garnered just as much of an emotional reaction from the audience. It recounted the story of a teenage boy who had just lost both of his parents.
As the first film festival of its kind on BU’s campus, the event created a space that illuminated the hidden filmmaking talent among the student body, said Andrew Giustino, a DKA member and a junior in COM.
“There’s a lot of people at BU who make films but may not be studying film,” he said. “For example, you might be a really talented filmmaker, but you can’t submit your films to other festivals on campus if, say, you’re a math major.”
Corrections: A previous version of this story incorrectly said the event was organized by DKA, rather than by both DKA and SAO. Also, contrary to what was previously reported, Ali Edwards is a member of SAO’s programming team, not a member of DKA.
