Every year, dozens of Boston University students get lost in Mugar Memorial Library. College of Communication junior Alan Systma was one of them.
However, Systma turned his experience into comedy, and his short film “The Library” won first prize, a $500 gift certificate to Cinelab, at the second annual Running Start Film Festival.
Two hundred students watched “The Library” and eight other student films at Morse Auditorium on Sunday. The films, which were culled from 30 submissions, ranged from comedies to experimental narratives to documentaries.
“I know a lot of people who’ve made movies and can’t submit them to Redstone [Film Festival] because they’re not in COM or can’t pay the required fees, so their friends and family have seen them and that’s it,” said Matt Kaszanek, president of the BU Film Festival, which organizes Running Start. “We’re independent of COM; anyone who wants to submit can.”
Systma said he didn’t even know the festival existed until he saw a sign asking for submissions. Out of the two films he gave to the festival, “The Library” was accepted.
“We shot over a weekend, and I edited during the rest of the week,” Systma said. “We almost got kicked out of Mugar a couple of times; we really had to shmooze our way in. A security guard was after us, but we just told him some higher authority said it was OK.”
The second- and third- place winners were also comedies. “Lapai Mi Kura” is a fake documentary about a group of BU film students working with a crazed Russian “genius” for their final project, and the nearly silent “The Fall Ball” shows a protective father torturing his daughter’s boyfriend before the titular ball, only to find out the boyfriend is actually a pizza delivery boy. The Fall Ball also won the Audience Choice award.
Other films had varied subjects. “I Am Dream Machine” is a fractured look at a Psycho-influenced dream with flashy editing and music, while “Nocturne” is a quiet look at a lonely student’s evening. “Missing” has a sad theme as well, as a girl on a beach reminisces about a past boyfriend in flashbacks.
Two other films used more experimental storytelling and narratives. “The Instant” shows a couple fantasizing in the few minutes before rejection, and “The Richness of Time” uses mainly still photographs to tell the story of a man’s life. Another non-fictional movie was the documentary “Phenomenon in Blue,” which traces the history of the Blue Man Group and its effect on the Boston theater community.
All the filmmakers, not just the winners, benefited from participating, Kaszanek said.
“It’s great when you can show a film to a packed house and the audience loves it, and laughs or feels moved where they should,” he said. “It’s a boost for your ego.”
Systma agreed.
“I’ll definitely put this on my resume,” he said. “I’m an advertising major — maybe this is a sign I should change my major.”
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