A contingent of students and alumni responsible for two award-winning short films at this year’s national Campus MovieFest (CMF) finals have been invited to attend the 2017 Cannes Film Festival on the French Riviera. This year will be festival's 70th anniversary.
The festival will be held in May, and the invitation was extended by Ideas United, the parent company of CMF. The BSU students will participate in the festival’s Short Film Corner, making their films available to an audience of more than 30,000 people from 130 countries.
Three BSU students and three alumni, representing both films, will be part of an elite group of 45 other student filmmakers nationwide selected for this honor by CMF officials.
The filmmakers heading to France are Thomas McCoy, ’17; Mark Matheson, ’16; Cassy Gilbert, ’16; Emily Herschlag, ’17; Nathan Killian, ’17' and Andrew Houldcroft, ’16. The shorts that earned this recognition were Filmed Under the Censor's Kiss and Spectral Analysis. (Warning: The former contains adult language.)
Since 2007, BSU has earned national awards and recognition at CMF’s national events in Hollywood and Atlanta; this is the first time the Cannes invite has been extended to BSU filmmakers.
“This is an extremely high honor for BSU, where we can tout international recognition for our talented student filmmakers,” said Dr. Ed Cabellon, assistant to the vice president of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. He manages the CMF-Bridgewater relationship, and first brought the annual competition to campus nine years ago, collaborating with Communication Studies, Student Government Association, and Program Committee over the years. In April, BSU celebrates its 10th anniversary of CMF at BSU.
Campus MovieFest is the world's largest student film festival. Participants are given one week to complete their short, five-minute film. They are provided a Macbook Pro, HD camcorder, and training. Each participating campus selects its top four films to move to the national competition. Winners are recognized at the annual ceremony in Atlanta.
BSU students have established a winning tradition at Campus MovieFest, having earned such awards as regional best picture, national best comedy (twice) and best cinematography.
