Spartan Daily

Student filmmakers showcase work at annual SJSU Campus MovieFest

Wesley Dugle, Spartan Daily

Students watch the comedy film “Billy” by SJSU student director Perry Marks on Tuesday at the sixth annual Campus MovieFest finale at Morris Dailey auditorium. Awards were given to the top films of the night. Photo by Dorian Silva / Spartan Daily

Campus MovieFest felt like a full-on blockbuster movie premiere complete with red carpet and spotlights which drew a crowd to pack both levels of Morris Dailey Auditorium on Tuesday evening.

Films were made by SJSU students who were provided with a laptop and camera to make and edit the films.

Nathan Okuley, tour manager for Campus MovieFest, has been traveling around the country  and said he enjoys his time with the film festival.

"This is our big event, this is the finale, this is when everyone shows the film," he said. "We get to see what all the hard work was and I get to play a fun role working with the administration and working with the students."

According to Okuley, on Tuesday evening the top 16 out of 113 films were shown with only one week to make a film, selected by SJSU students, faculty and staff.

"Potatoes For the Poor" won the award for Spartanality, a special SJSU award for Homecoming, Okuley said. The film is a documentary showing students going around San Jose giving homeless people food in the form of potatoes.

A Silver Tripod Award was given out to those who worked on production aspects behind the scenes in the categories of soundtrack and special effects.

The films "Sweetheart" and "Gotta Earn It" both won a Silver Tripod Award for their exceptional work on the short films' soundtracks and "Frontal Lobe" won a Silver Tripod Award for special effects.

"Sweetheart" was a black-and-white film which had the main character stealing delivery boxes off front porches and taking the stuff inside, but the film takes a dark turn when a box is opened to find something gruesome inside.

The awards for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Drama, Best Comedy and Best Picture quickly got everyone's attention.

The best actor award went to John Harcharik for his role in "Sweetheart" as the main character.

Best actress went to radio broadcasting major Champagne Ellison and theater arts major Champagne Hughes for their roles in the comedy "For Rent."

"I almost peed my pants," Ellison said. "I was ecstatic that I actually won an award of this caliber, to the outside world it may just be a piece of paper with my name on it, but to me this is a college award."

Hughes said she was shocked as well when she heard that there were two recipients for the award.

"So much was going through our heads, but you can't have one Champagne without the other," Hughes said. "It was horribly exciting."

"Hope," a movie with two children being chased by zombies in the countryside, won the award for best drama.

The crowd seemed to connect with the young characters on the screen, especially with the ending.

"Sweetheart" won the award for best comedy, and took home the most awards of the evening.

"Drawn," a silent film, depicted the main character as he did things by himself while showing a fantasy about a girl he sees on a bench at the beginning of the film.

A real life couple, Joshua Pausanos and Taylor Keith, starred in the film — both said they were shocked to hear they won.

"I didn't realize it at first," Keith said. "I felt like everything just stopped and I was like 'Wait a minute, that's us.'"

Pausanos, who also directed and edited the film, said he thought Campus MovieFest was a great platform to showcase his talents.

"I didn't know that I was going to win, but here I am," he said. "It's a great opportunity."

All the films should be able to be viewed on the Campus MovieFest website.