NewsRelease

(Posted 1-6-04)
Contact: Tiffany Aumann, 336-334-5371

Carolina Film and Video Festival Gets Animated
27th annual festival planned Feb. 18-21

GREENSBORO – The 2004 Carolina Film and Video Festival will broaden its artistic scope this year, reaching into the realm of animation. A special Thursday evening screening of cutting-edge, award-winning animated pieces from the Ottawa Animation Festival and a Saturday morning program with the creators of “Blue’s Clues” have been added to the traditional offering of diverse, independent works.

The annual film and video festival is celebrating its 27th year at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The student-run competition showcases the finest locally, nationally, and internationally produced films and videos. Audiences get the first look at developing filmmakers of all levels and films from all genres, from documentary to animation, narrative fiction to experimental.

Approximately 30 of the best films will be screened in the Elliott University Center auditorium Wednesday through Friday, Feb. 18-20. Tickets for screenings are $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and students with ID. The winning entries will be shown on Winners’ Night at the historic Carolina Theater Saturday, Feb. 21.  Tickets for this event are $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, and $5 for children and students with ID.

Three especially distinguished judges have been chosen to adjudicate the competition.
• Tom Blomquist, adjunct lecturer for the American Film Institute. Blomquist’s credits include work as executive producer and writer for the television series “Walker, Texas Ranger” (CBS) and “Swamp Thing” (USA Network), as well as supervising producer and writer for “Christy” (CBS).
• Stuart Robertson is an independent visual effects supervisor who works in Los Angeles. A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a board member of the Visual Effects Society, his feature credits include Woody Allen’s “Zelig,” Roland Emmerich’s revolutionary war epic “The Patriot,” Stephen King’s “Rose Red,” and such films as “The Ghost and The Darkness,” “Predator,” “Back to the Future 2,” “Last Action Hero” and “The Abyss.” In 1998, Stuart received an Academy Award for outstanding visual effects on the feature film “What Dreams May Come.”
• Leanne M. Campbell is studio head of Blue Ridge Motion Picture Studios. She, along with Merwin Gross opened Blue Ridge Motion Pictures in September 2001. She divides her time between Asheville, North Carolina, and Exeter, New Hampshire, where she oversees an ongoing real estate management company.

This year, the festival is proud to present a new $1,000 award for excellence in directing.  As well as the Kodak award for Best Cinematography and the Alberta Ahler award for best high school film or video, there will be the six traditional prizes for best fiction work, best animation or experimental work, and best nonfiction work in the two main categories of college/university submissions and independent/professional submissions.

This year's festival will again be accompanied by special workshops and presentations on interactive and web video sponsored by the Ashby Dialogues Program. The keynote speaker will be Jakob Trollbäck, founder of Trollbäck & Company, one of the most sought-after design houses in New York. His designs have been used in film titles and commercials, and have attracted high-profile clients such as HBO, TNT, AMC, Sundance Channel, Volvo and Sony. The Swedish-born artist has offices in Manhattan and California. For a sample of his work, visit www.trollback.com.

Also speaking as part of the Ashby Dialogues will be David Gatten, a 1995 graduate of UNCG. Gatten received his MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1998 and currently teaches filmmaking at Ithaca College. Through traditional research methods and nontraditional film processes, his films trace the contours of private lives and public histories, combining elements of philosophy, biography and poetry with experiments in cinematic forms and narrative structures. Gatten's work is included in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as in private collections in the United States, Canada, and Japan. His latest film, “Secret History of the Dividing Line,” premiered in December 2002 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City. It was the recipient of awards at both the Onion City Film Festival in Chicago and the Black Maria Film and Video Festival.

The Carolina Film and Video Festival is the oldest continuously operating film festival in the Carolinas. Growing from a one-day event in February 1978, the festival has recognized more than 300 films and videos as award winners.  Its mission is to encourage and promote excellence among student, independent, and commercial film and video artists in the state, region and internationally.

The event is presented by the UNCG Department of Broadcasting and Cinema in association with the Department of Art and the Ashby Dialogues.  For more information about the festival, visit www.carolinafilmandvideofestival.org or call (336) 334-4197.
 

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