Friday night, Jan. 27, Pepperdine rolled out the red carpet once again for its third annual REELSTORIES Filmfest.
The night, brimming with original art pieces, powerful stories, and excited attendees, shed some well-deserved light on the broad array of creative talent that Pepperdine’s undergrads possess. Five student films were showcased at the event as well as three feature films, “Buck,” “Being Elmo”, and “Life in a Day.” All three films were shown at Sundance 2011.
“I feel like this event was absolutely incredible,” junior Jessica Freitas said. “It hit every point that it needed to — it brought people in, they had amazing food, and the movies were fantastic.”
Junior Lauren Sleezer expressed similar sentiments.
“I was really impressed with the student films, and it’s great to be able to have an event that can showcase some really profound films,” she said.
A panel of celebrity judges evaluated the films and RSFF attendees were able to vote for their favorites. Celebrity judges included Adrian Belic, Roko Belic, Todd Bouldin, Chris Carter, Graeme Clifford, Craig Detweiler, Beverly Graf, Cindy Meehl, Hutch Parker, Joseph Sargent and Randall Wallace.
Awards, as determined by celebrity judges and student votes included the Audience Choice Award, REEL Cause Award, Technical Excellence Award and the Grand Prize Selection.
Winners for the event included David Chang with “Ted’s Great Idea,” Britt Hennemuth with “Blank,” Houston Costa with “Life 101,” Josh Currie and Richard Goff with “Raise Me” and alumni Austin Chapman with “Succor.” Chapman’s film was named Pepperdine’s 75th Anniversary Commemorative Award-winning Film.
