Screening student-produced silent films, music montages and documentaries, the Andover Moviemaker’s Club (AMC) hosted Andover’s Student Movie Festival last Saturday in Kemper Auditorium. David Cho ’14 and Ben Yi ’14, co-heads of AMC, introduced the Movie Festival. “Grains of Golden Sand,” a film by Jordan Boudreau ’14, starred Lauren Conte ’14 and Joe Faller ’14 was screened first. The film tells a story that many Andover students can relate to: the story of a boy who can’t stop dreaming about a girl. The film portrayed a dream within a dream, while a montage of dulled colors and love poems enhanced the abstractness of this idea. “My favorite video was definitely the first one. I loved how Jordan played with the saturation and thus created a very deep video,” said Emilia Figliomeni ’14, a member of AMC. The film “New York City,” by Emmie Avvakumova ’14 played next. The film revolves around Avvakumova’s friends posing in different outfits around New York City. An upbeat and flowing soundtrack complemented the storyline of the film. AMC then presented its film, “Maid for Nature.” The video, which was originally created for the Green Cup Challenge during Winter Term, humorously explored the need to be more environmentally friendly. The film features a maid who violently punishes those who do not respect the environment. “The Fountain,” a silent film by Michelle Hantman ’13, depicted a wishing fountain. “The video was really well made. It was clear and very interesting to see how Michelle could deliver the plot only via actions,” said Adele Bernhard ’14. The next film, “Friday,” by David Myers ’12, describes a blooming romance with an open-ended conclusion. “The video depicted very realistic situations and was very cleverly made to keep the audience guessing at the end,” said Figliomeni. Claudia Giles ’13 produced and screened an emotionally compelling documentary of 9/11 titled “Vantage.” Elana King-Nakaoka ’14 said, “I felt the documentary was very heartfelt and well made. It effectively broke the wall between the viewer and the video and left an impression on me.” After the screening of “Rush,” another short film by Giles, “Stuck,” by Bernhard Fasenfest ’12, was shown. “Stuck” incorporated distinct techniques like stop-motion and tampered saturation. Yi’s “Cao’s Moving Castle” screened last and closed the Festival. “It’s a movie that attempted to show and depict simple imagination at its best. The plot is about David, who is bored with his studies, turning his soundtrack of ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ in the library. … While listening to the music, his imagination begins to pick up pace, as he imagines himself passionately playing the piano,” Yi wrote in an e-mail to The Phillipian. In the film, David later realizes that he has fallen asleep in the library while listening to music but is ultimately able to translate the melody of his dream onto the piano. “[The Festival] ended on a good note. The video was funny and interesting, “said Corinna Torabi ’14. Yi said, “All the submitted videos were good. We encourage more people to submit to this festival. We want [the festival] to be the platform for the showcasing of filmmaking at Andover.”
