Students Will Screen Documentary Films May 12

Fifth annual festival will feature tattoos, brewing, and boxing legend Larry Holmes

Students in the documentary film class taught by Andrew Smith, assistant professor of English and chair of American studies, will screen their original films during the Student Film Festival 8 p.m. May 12 in the Williams Center for the Arts.

This is the festival’s fifth anniversary, and the six 10-15 minute documentaries premiering this year will bring the total to 40 original films produced since 2004. The class integrates critical study with creative digital production. John O’Keefe, director of academic technologies and network services, co-teaches production elements in the course.

“We have invited all the former student filmmakers back for the fifth year celebration,” says Smith. “And we’ve moved the event to the Williams Center for the Arts’ main stage to utilize more seating.”

The festivities will include a question and answer session with student filmmakers, an awards ceremony, and a reception following the screening. Previous festivals have had hundreds of people in attendance.

The films that will premiere during the festival will be:

• “Birth of a Hero” by Todd Nicholas ’08 (Stow, Mass.) and Rebecca Teitelbaum ’09 (Bethesda, Md.) focuses on the video game phenomenon.
• “The Club” by Christie Egan ’08 (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), Carolyn Freundlich ’08 (Westfield, N.J.), and Porter Curran ’09 (Phoenix, Md.) looks at The Boys and Girls Club of Easton’s new teen center.
• “Ink” by Jesse Clemmens ’09 (Ossining, N.J.), Natalie Cothren ’09 (Akron, Ohio), and Emily Weisenreder ’08 (Pasadena, Md.) explores the art and practice of tattoos.
• “Divorced” by Ziad Foty ’10 (Washington, D.C.) and Dan McDonald ’10 (Palmerton, Pa.) focuses on the children of divorce.
• “Please Drink Respectably” by Kevin Farrell ’08 (Philadelphia, Pa.), Will Griffith ’09 (Woodbridge, Conn.), Ryan Hanna ’09 (Tucson, Ariz.) explores Lehigh Valley craft brewing.
• “Second to None” by Solange Bethart ’08 (Miami, Fla.), Jaclyn Danchak ’09 (Clarks Summit, Pa.), Scott Spivack-Kerr ’09 (Bensalem, Pa.) takes a look at boxing legend Larry Holmes.