2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Debut film festival underway
Sarah Foster
Issue date: 4/6/07 Section: Community
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The festival kicked off Thursday evening with a private gala at the Marcum Conference Center. The gala opened with a catered dinner followed by the U.S. premiere of Wrath of Gods, an international film by director Jon Gustafsson. A question and answer session followed with Gustafsson.
Wrath is a documentary of the problems experienced with multiple storms and a volcanic eruption over the course of production while filming the movie Beowulf and Grendel.
Miami junior Joe Baur, a member of the Miami Association of Filmmakers and Independent Actors (MAFIA), enjoyed the documentary and could relate on a smaller level when he had problems shooting a film for MAFIA due to weather.
"The documentary really put me in my place because I was complaining about not finding my sunny day and (the crew) had problems as well," he said.
Kelsey Fenn, Miami sophomore and member of MAFIA, enjoyed the screening and question and answer session.
"It was interesting to hear the insider information about the production of the film," she said.
The documentary stars Gerald Butler, who appeared in the film 300. The film is set to screen again for the public at 6:30 p.m. April 6.
Nathan Houser, Miami alumnus, feels that the festival is off to a good start.
"It's going pretty well so far," Houser said. "We need to get more people involved, especially the students. There are a lot of interesting films coming through this weekend, lots of shorts."
The film festival is set to kick off for the public at 10 a.m. Friday at the Marcum Conference Center.
JC Schroder; director and founder of Star Com Productions, an independent film company; encouraged the audience members to invite others to the event.
"I would like to encourage not only everyone to come to this event, but to be here to hear the stories (of filmmakers and special guests)," Schroder said. "The is ultimately the goal of a film festival, and is what it should be all about."
The Ohio premiere of the award-winning Mojave Phone Booth, directed by John Putch will also screen this weekend.
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