Wednesday, January 22, 2003

By Stephanie L. Kirby, PR Intern

Wilmington – Dr. Renee Vincent, associate professor of art and theatre at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, was one of only two filmmakers in the state to receive an $8,000 grant from the North Carolina Arts Council.



Vincent received this grant on Dec. 9, 2002, in recognition of her film, Conversation with Kafka. The grant money will be spent of the development of Vincent’s next film.



The North Carolina Arts Council awards film grants every other year and only when funds are available. Vincent’s style is narrative and the other recipient works with documentaries.

Marie Caudell, from the UNCW Art & Theatre Department, wrote her own translation from German for the film. Kodak agreed to give all of the film for the project, and Joe Dunton, from Joe Dunton & Company International, Inc., of Wilmington, provided all of the camera equipment at a discounted price.

“It was a domino effect,” said Vincent. “The whole project took me over. Instead of working of the project, it was working on me.”

The five cast members were all students in the UNCW Department of Art andTheatre, and they all had to double as crew members. It was the first time that most of the cast had been in a film. Two UNCW students also edited the film.



Conversation with Kafka, shot on location in Prague, Czech Republic, and Wilmington, North Carolina, is an amazing partnership between the UNCW, involving many departments, students, international programs, honors programs, UNCW alumni, and professionals and vendors in the community, and across the nation.

The process has been exciting and has strengthened old and new relationships between the university and the local, state and international film community, Vincent noted.

Underscoring that fact, the film has gained national recognition from the Eastman Kodak Company, who generously donated all the film stock for the project and featured the film in their In Camera magazine.

In addition to the film’s unusual and successful production team, the project is experimenting with innovative and perhaps groundbreaking technology. The film was shot with a 16mm camera with 2.35 Research Anamorphic Lenses. This technology reflects 25 years of research by Dunton, BSC (British Society of Cinematographers).

In addition, Vincent, director of the film, was awarded a Research Reassignment Award and a Summer Research Initiative from UNCW’s College of Arts and Sciences to facilitate the film project.

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Dr. Vincent can be reached at 910/962-3403