Look out Sundance, here comes USU
Park City’s world-famous Sundance Film Festival kicked off on Thursday, Jan. 20, but Utah State University beat them to the punch with the second Annual USU Film Club Film Festival held this Wednesday night.
The event offered a chance for the members of the film club to show of what they have created over the last year. A panel of eight judges awards prizes to their picks.
In total, eight different movies were shown to an almost filled-to-capacity Kent Concert Hall.
“I’m not sure how many people ended up coming,” film club President Morgan Yost, a senior in pre-med biology, said. “I was told this place holds about 3,000 people and there weren’t too many empty seats.”
As students filed in, cuts and clips from last year’s films were shown on the screen.
The festival was emceed by Ricky Hacking, a junior in marketing.
“I thought the whole festival was really good and a lot of fun. We have a lot of talent here at USU.”
The night began with the themed category in which contestants were given the topic “Clubs, Groups and Organizations” and about a month to create a 10-minute film. The top to films in each subcategory (drama, documentary and comedy) were presented to the audience.
This first movie was a drama called “The Legend of Red Creek Mine,” which followed a group of people investigating a legendary mine in the Logan area which has claimed the lives of 18 people over the years. The film featured a lot of extreme close up using night vision cameras and one character making the observation “I don’t know why we split up; that’s how people get in trouble in the movies.”
The other drama showcased was “Hieroymer Boch’s Heck,” in which the main character Jeff summons a pig faced creature, to destroy the man that stands between him and his love. After the pig man kills the other man, the girl takes her own life and the film ended with Jeff holding her head in his lap.
“Don’t worry, this school does have counselors,” Hacking reassured the audience.
Bringing some local flavor, the first documentary, “Hassenpheffer and the Bombdiggity” chronicled the exploits of the area band with same name. The band supplied the music for the soundtrack as well and was described by a fan in the film as “an acid trip for Mormons.”
“The Masonic Order” was the second film in the documentary division and consisted of interviews about people knowledge of the famed society. Interviewees ranged from average students to USU faculty including President Kermit L. Hall, an expert on the Kennedy Assassination.
“Remember, every Mason is a friendly Mason,” the films director Tyler Atkinson a junior majoring in marketing said to the crowd after winning the award for Overall Best Picture in the themed category.
The comedy selections started off with “The Abnormals,” in which USU gets a new club consisting of the abnormal student body including a very tall man, a constant nose bleeder and a Texas cowboy.
The final film from the themed category was the eventual People’s Choice winner “Clubs and Spades,” in which two rival gangs, the clubs and the spades, decided that the card game of war is no longer enough to settle their differences and that the only way to end their struggles was with a winner take all Texas Hold’em tournament.
“It just feels great,” director Josh Wood and senior majoring in business said. “Normally at a film festival it’s the darker and the edgier dramas that win things but it’s just good to know that we created something the people really enjoyed.”
According to Yost there is already talk of extending the movie beyond it’s current 10 minutes.
After the themed films were presented two films for the open category were also shown. Open films were longer and could be one the topice of the directors choice.
-steveshinney@cc.usu.edu
Tyler Atkinson accepts the award for Best of Show at the USU Film Club´s film festival for “The Masonic Order.” (Photo by Michael Sharp)