Tuesday, March 15, 2011

After receiving submissions from all over the world, VISIONS is announcing early film selections for its 2011 inaugural festival. The VISIONS Film Festival & Conference, hosted by the Department of Film Studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, is the first ever international film festival and conference showcasing exclusively undergraduate filmmakers and scholars together in one forum. VISIONS will take place Friday, April 1 at UNCW's Lumina Theater.

The powerful award-winning documentary Still Here, directed by Vassar College undergraduate Alex Camilleri, and the German thriller St. Christophorus: Roadkill, directed by student filmmaker Gregor Erier, are just two of the seven early official selections. The films will be screened at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

"The quality of the filmmakers that we are attracting to participate in VISIONS is incredible," said Shannon Silva, director of the VISIONS Festival and assistant professor of film studies at UNC Wilmington. "We are so excited to have the opportunity to bring these talented undergraduate filmmakers and their work to Wilmington. Our team of UNCW undergraduates has worked so hard to plan and publicize the festival, and we're receiving an overwhelming response."

The full lineup of films will be announced next week.

Early Official Selections of VISIONS Film Festival & Conference 2011:

Seasons of Love directed by Grettel Batoon (New York University)
After falling in love at the dawn of spring, two leaves must find a way to reunite after Mother Nature's inevitable forces tear them apart.

Written directed by Bryn Silverman (University of Southern California)
Fray Collins wakes up in a dark world and struggles to express himself in words. In this splice-of-life short experimental film, he finds his creative inspiration in a woman, Charlotte. Suddenly, Fray is able to get his frustrations off his back.

Zlata Rybka (The Goldfish) directed by Jacob Mendel (Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts)
Set in Prague at an indeterminate time, the lives of a man, a cat and a goldfish intersect in unexpected ways.

Still Here directed by Alex Camilleri (Vassar College)
A short documentary about Randy Baron, a long-term HIV survivor who lost his friends and loved ones to the disease that he is still living with.

St. Christophorus: Roadkill directed by Gregor Erler (Filmakademic Baden-WurHemberg)
The life of Chris, a young lawyer, takes an unexpected turn when he witnesses a tragic accident while driving toward Hamburg. With the addition of a crime, two sadistic policemen and a bestial ranger, the angst-ridden Chris realizes that this horrifying night won't be over soon.

Bedford Park Boulevard directed by Felix Thompson (New York University)
A fifteen-year-old Latino boy at Bronx high school makes a mistake that may ruin the rest of his life.

Carried Away directed by Corinne Colgan and Eric Keto (Ithaca College)
Some people say he's crazy. Others call him a genius. Follow backyard inventor and world record-holding hot air balloon pilot Brian Boland on his next great adventure.

VISIONS will bring to Wilmington scholarly works and well-crafted films from the next generation of academy and industry leaders from across the U.S. plus Europe and Australia, to foster an inclusive undergraduate community and provide an enriching film experience.

All sessions of the VISIONS Film Festival and Conference are free and open to the public. A more detailed schedule will be released at a later date.

Media contacts:
Dana Fischetti, media relations manager, 910.508.3127 or fischettid@uncw.edu

Andy Myers, student festival and conference contact, 910.599.7447 or atm2865@uncw.edu