The first event, both of the day and to garner attention, was the keynote address by recent Notre Dame grad, Javi Zubizaretta. Touching on topics of self-doubt, family bonds, and inner growth, Zubizaretta’s speech resonated with all members of the audience, whether they had a direct relation to filmmaking or not. In speaking with him, Zubizaretta confirmed that “film can be scary and intimidating, it’s that idea of ‘can I get into it?’ And so I think that’s really affirming for a young person, just out of undergrad, that ‘yes you can make great work like we’ve seen today.’”
Following Zubizaretta’s speech and a screening of his film “Zuretzako” was the first scholarly conference block. Topics ranged from dismantling Muslim stereotypes in My Name Is Khan to poetic digression in The Thin Red Line to examining Haute Tension’s repressed tension to post-colonialist intent in Touki Bouki. Next was the first screening block of films, which had works that tackled obstacles of maturity, the elusive power of knowledge, race and acceptance, among others. Both blocks engaged the audience and allowed room for a Q&A session afterward.
Bev Eggleston, a guest in attendance, related to Javi’s film from the viewpoint of a farmer. He offered his thoughts on his experience thus far at Visions: “I think that everybody so far are just super intelligent young people that I’m just really inspired by. It’s a higher level of sophistication I had hoped to expect, but really to see it and feel it makes me excited for the rest of the day.”
The next event on the agenda was the second conference block, which featured topics more debaucherous in nature. These ranged from Robert Siodmak’s daring film noir career to emasculation of Hong Kong male actors to a focus on three Bruce Conner films as sexually liberating to an analysis of pornography and avant-garde in the 1960s and 70s. These presentations may have caused slight uneasiness in some audience members but they certainly provoked intellectual thought in all audience members.
Many of the guests were bubbling with anticipation for the event that came next: the 1Hour 1Take Video Race, a completely new component of Visions. Teams were compiled of five people, including community members, scholars or filmmakers, Visions staff members, and other UNCW students who were given a Coby Snapp HD Digital Camcorder and one hour to devise, rehearse and shoot a one-minute film. The shorts, which were at once humorous, poignant and clever, were then screened in Lumina Theater to the audience’s delight.
Walter Lowe III, one of the student filmmakers in attendance, was part of the gold team and offered his reflection on the experience: “I think we did a really great job collaborating. A lot of people had some really great ideas and we were all open to hearing them and then they just all combined to a really great idea at the end.”
Thomas Strother, a high school student who was touring UNCW during Visions, was a participant on the navy blue team who related his feelings on the Video Race: “I’m not even in college so to work with a group of people who are as talented as the group I’m working with is a new experience and something very exciting for me.”
The last event of the day was the evening screening block, suited for more mature audiences. Consisting of films dealing with American vulnerability, religious intolerance, violent hypnotism, and incest, among others, it was the perfect culminating send off for all of the guests. The films inspired challenging questions and left viewers with respect and satisfying interest in these undergraduate produced works.
The Visions after party took place at The Calico Room in downtown Wilmington where the student award winners were announced. Excellence in Experimental went to Sean Hanley for “Hindsight”, Shreyasi Das was awarded Excellence in Animation for “Dissonance”, Excellence in Documentary was awarded to Matt Stamm & Cory Godwin for “Out of the Blue” and Stephane Moukarzel received the Excellence in Narrative award for “Coup Sauvage”. The Audience Choice for Filmmaking award went to Christina Bryant for “Jemila’s Tale” and Erin Zacek & Grant Reed for “The Elect”, while the Audience Choice for Scholarship went to Jacob Mertens for “War and Poetry: The Use of Poetic Digression in The Thin Red Line.” Michael Daye received the Excellence in Scholarship Award for his topic “Touki Bouki: Djibril Diop Mambéty and the Post-Colonial Aesthetic.” And lastly, the Visionary Award, which recognizes imaginative, daring, and boundary-pushing work that celebrates a passion for film, was presented to Christopher Jarvis for his film “The Birds Upstairs.”
All of the winning filmmakers and scholars I spoke with were honored and elated about their awards. The impression that everyone gave was one of appreciation for all the stimulating work around them. The winners were thrilled because of the context in which they received their award; they felt that all of the other work presented at Visions was exceptionally worthy.
The filmmakers and scholars of this year’s Visions plan to continue their inventive work. Christina Bryant, director of Jemila’s Tale, spoke about aspects she is striving to incorporate into her filmmaking: “I think representation, especially as a black female filmmaker, to tackle both those sides of my identity and protagonists that are strong, but also to show we’re present day, we’re quirky, we’re multi-faceted and really to get that point across as equally as other genders and races in film.”
Christopher Jarvis who marveled that the scholarly aspects of the undergraduate work at Visions rivaled that of Telluride, reflected on being a guest filmmaker: “I’m very honored to be a part of Visions. I think its one of the most original festivals I’ve ever attended and I’ve attended many festivals. It’s extremely unique in the sense that it brings together the scholarly aspects and academic aspects of film and complements that with a very sophisticated line-up of films. The thing that I will probably walk away with and appreciate most is the great people I was able to meet and be exposed to here.”
What allowed Visions to stand out this year was the combination of being both incredibly professional and utterly personal. The event was well organized, and even when something strayed from the original plan, the staff maintained control and composure. Equally important was the level of comradery that grew between the Visions staff, the student filmmakers and scholars, and all of the other guests in attendance.
As Sean Hanley said, “coming out of the festival I am realizing that the film community in the U.S. is kind of like a tribe, so a festival like this is like a gathering of the tribe, we’re all here to mingle and work together and plan for the future. It’s a way for those clans or those tribes to interact, in a peaceful environment.” There was an underlying sense of respect and appreciation for the work being done that permeated through all attending guests, which is something that cannot be planned or organized, but comes to exist through admiration of the unique event that is Visions.
