“Anyone in the whole school can submit a film, and the majority usually get in. We don’t have any specific criteria for content, and so the films we show will range from narratives to silent films, skits to animation.”
One of the most unique pieces that will be screened at the festival is “Treads,” a reality TV show that follows a crew as they make a short film. Ross Wachsman ’02 produced and directed the first season of the show over the summer, and what he submitted to the film festival is a pilot of the show that he will use to try and sell to a TV station. The crew and actors are professional and not Yale students.
The average film in the festival is about five to 10 minutes in length, and most are shot using analog video as opposed to digital film. Taylor comments that the films are so short because most students have only been working on their projects for this semester, although there is no requirement that the films be recently produced — in fact, some directors submitted their old films from high school.
The films that are included in the festival, in the approximate order they will be shown, are “Street Spirit,” by Alex DeMille ’02; “Halloween,” by Amy Sharpe ’04; “The Chaser,” by Nathan Kitada ’05; “Treads,” by Ross Wachsman ’02; “I Knew Right Then,” by Vineet Dewan ’02; “50% Polyester,” by Fred Guerrier ’04; “Daydreamer,” by Michael Rohrbaugh ’04; “Gimme Love,” by Caitlin Taylor ’03; “Sunday Afternoon on the Green,” by Jonathan Zalben ’02; and a “UPix Film Trailer,” by Michael Schulman ’03. Taylor notes that “there are still one or two extras that may end up showing.”
“Treads” is the longest film at 18 minutes, and it is by far the most impressive. But many of the other films that did not have the same resources still manage to get some quality experimentation on film.
The UPix Fall Film Festival will be in Davies Auditorium at 8 on the evenings of Friday Nov. 30, and Saturday Dec. 1. Admission is $3 for students and free to all Upix members.