The Carolina Film and Video Festival
(CFVF) provides talented student and independent filmmakers, producers,
writers, actors, and directors the opportunity to introduce and sustain
their creativity and wisdom. For twenty-six years, CFVF has shown
the spotlight on up-and-coming filmmakers, producers, writers, actors,
and directors, giving some much more than fifteen minutes of fame.
In keeping with its mission of nurturing
talent, CFVF attracts youthful filmmakers and talented new artists
who go on later to greater success. Before becoming famous Hollywood
actors, Josh Hartnett and Selma Blair starred in the film Debutante,
written and directed by Mollie Jones. Debutante won Best Cinematography
at the 1997 CFVF and aired on the Independent Film Channel in August
2003. Hartnett today is mostly recognized for his performances in
the blockbuster films Pearl Harbor (2001) and Black Hawk
Down (2001), while Blair made a name for herself in the smash
hits Cruel Intentions (1999) and Legally Blonde (2001).
Director Perry Lin’s film, 17
Years to Earth, won the Kodak Award at the 1998 CFVF and found
more success later that year. In September 1998 the awards for the
first IFC2000 national student film competition, presented by the
Independent Film Channel and Independent Feature Project, honored
17 Years to Earth with the Grand Prize, including $10,000 cash
and $10,000 in products from Eastman Kodak. In 1999, 17 Years to
Earth screened on the Sundance Channel during the program, Short
Screened from America I.
Writer/director
Jay Rosenblatt received an Honorable Mention at the 1998 CFVF for
his film, Human Remains. The film later that year won the Jury
Award at the Sundance Film Festival. Director Tom Hodges’ film,
Last Request, took home the 2001 CFVF grand prize, the Kodak
Best Cinematography Award, as well as first place in the Best Narrative
Drama category. Last Request starred Michael Chiklis, who later
won an Emmy for his work in The Shield. Animator Eric Henry’s
Wood Technology won CFVF’s Best Experimental award in
1998 and later that year was also named Best Experimental Video at
the 1998 Atlanta International Film and Video Festival. The Body
by producer/director Joel Moffett received a special Best Social Satire
award at the 1998 CFVF and later was awarded the Silver Medal in the
Dramatic Category at the 25th Annual Student Academy Awards.
Films
that screen at CFVF are also seen by broader audiences as well. Keiko
Ibi’s documentary, The Personals: Improvisations on Romance
in the Golden Years, won Best Documentary at CFVF and the Academy
Award in the short documentary category in the same year, and the
work later aired on HBO. CFVF’s Best College/University Documentary
2002, A Union in Wait, directed by Ryan Butler, aired on the
Sundance Channel in May 2002 and in September 2003. CFVF’s Best
College/University Narrative 2003, Flirting With Death, directed
by Matt Clements, aired on Showtime in August 2003.
Given its international reputation,
however, CFVF also attracts many filmmakers and showcases outstanding
talent who have already arrived. Andre Braughter, for example, performed
in the 1989 war epic Glory and the suspenseful Primal Fear
(1996) before appearing in Louisville. Created by Joy Lusco
and Scott Kecken, Louisville received an Honorable Mention
at the 1998 CFVF. Academy Award-nominated director Don Hertzfeldt
won Best Animation at the 1998 CFVF for his film, Lily & Jim.
Over the course of his career, Hertzfeldt has received more than one
hundred awards and screened at the Cannes Film Festival, the Sundance
Film Festival, as well as on MTV, the Independent Film Channel, and
Bravo. Prior to winning the award for Technical Excellence at the
1998 CFVF for Achilles, Oscar and BAFTA nominee Barry J. C.
Purves, director/writer/animator, worked as the original animation
director on the 1995 Tim Burton film, Mars Attacks!.
Additionally
in 1998, the controversial documentary, Waco: The Rules of Engagement,
won a special CFVF award for Best in Journalism. Waco had received
a 1997 Oscar nomination for Best Documentary and was awarded an Emmy
for Outstanding Investigative Journalism. Produced by Amy Sommer Gifford,
it also received the esteemed International Documentary Association’s
Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award and screened at Sundance.
In 2003, Waco aired on Starz Encore True Stories Channel. After
staring in notable films like Runaway Bride (1999), Fear
and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), and 12 Monkeys (1995),
Christopher Meloni starred in Kelly Anderson’s film Shift,
which took home the Best Acting Award at CFVF in 2000. Shift’s
director/producer Anderson had made a name for herself with her documentary
Out at Work, which screened at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival,
aired on HBO, and received a GLADD Media Award for Best Documentary.
As
history shows, CFVF continually has provided student and independent
filmmakers, producers, actors, directors, and writers with a platform
for artistic expression, sustaining their fame for far more than fifteen
minutes.
