UA News

Four films by UA students have advanced to the Campus MovieFest's regional competition, which is being held this month in San Francisco.

What began as a simple idea about a film about two best friends has resulted in a spot in a regional student filmmaker competition.

University of Arizona media arts classmates Trevor Davies and Jeffrey Post pulled together a production team to film "The Infinite," a five-minute movie about a boy who believes himself to be immortal and tests this perception by involving his best friend.

The film, produced for the nationwide Campus MovieFest, took "Best Drama" in the local competition. It is now one of three UA student-created films advancing to the 2009 Western Regional Grand Finale competition, which will be held Nov. 14 in San Francisco.

"It was really well planned," said Trevor Davies, a sophomore in the UA's School of Media Arts and the film's director. "We put all of our blood and sweat into this film, and we just hope it does well in regionals."

All films were required to be produced within a one-week period.

"That pressured us to do the best work we could with what we had," Davies said. "It was a great experience." 

UA student filmmakers will compete against films produced by students attending more than one dozen other institutions, including Arizona State University, University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Southern California, San Francisco State and Oregon State University.

Earlier this semester, Campus MovieFest put a call out to students across the nation asking them to produce five-minute films "about anything" for a chance to win $10,000.

To produce their films, the company gave each team a digital camcorder and an Apple laptop equipped with editing equipment.

The company reports that more than 200,000 students have participated in the company's competition since its inception eight years ago.

This year, 75,000 students are participating. Films that make it to grand final competitions will be shown at The Regency Center, Atlanta Symphony Hall and Lincoln Center and will also be featured on AT&T phones and in-flight on Virgin America, the company also reported.

"It's something a lot of schools and a lot of students participate heavily in," said Chris Hargraves, UA's senior coordinator for campus community connections.

Other UA student-produced films that are advancing to regional competition are "Scene 5," which was named Best Picture; "In Production," which was named Best Comedy; and eXpresso, which is entering as an "AT&T Wild Card."

"Scene 5" is about a filmmaker whose case includes his love interest. "In Production" follows the story of a student producing a film while working toward getting accepted into film school. And "eXpresso" is about a barista who is recruited to complete a mission.

It is the first time UA students have participated in the nationwide competition.

Hargraves said more than 70 entries were submitted by UA students in the first round. The target, he said, was 50.

"We are hoping to make this an annual event since we had such a great turnout for the first year," Hargraves said. "We hope to be able to partner with more campus groups to make this a campus tradition."

More recently, UA's Gallagher Theater has placed more of an emphasis of showing more student-produced films, including documentaries produced by American Indian students, social justice-oriented films and other student productions.

Jeffrey Post, a media arts senior who also worked in "The Infinite," said it is the first film he has submitted to a competition. 

"It was a great group, and everyone understands the film," Post said. "It's a story for everyone."

Both Post and Davies, who said he has long been drawn to film, intend to pursue careers as filmmakers.

"Film, for me, is perfect as an art medium," Davies said. "It's the best way I can express myself as an artist."