“No money just vision, truly Independent” is the motto of the Jamfest International Indie Film Festival. Last Friday and Saturday, the Southeastern community was given the opportunity to view award-winning films from around the world during this event. The fourth annual production of this event was held in Pottle Auditorium and the Pottle Recital Hall on Oct. 28-29 from noon to 9 p.m.
The festival was sponsored by the Northshore Regional Endowment for the Arts and Southeastern’s department of fine and performing arts. Faculty members Martie Fellom and Alan Marsh put together and directed the event.
A wide variety of films were played back-to-back throughout the day, from a broad range of local and foreign filmmakers. The film lengths varied, lasting anywhere from three to 82 minutes long. Not every movie in the festival was necessarily from a big name production company, as the film “The Letter of Marcus Graves” was created by Southeastern student Stephen Pfiel. After the festival, an award ceremony was held on Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Pottle Recital Hall.
“This is the first time I’ve heard about Jamfest,” said Valerie Black, a producer from Los Angeles. “I’ve enjoyed the quality of the project and the range of the amazing films from Iran, Mexico and New Zealand. I’ve definitely been impressed with the submissions and what’s been shown here.”
The festival featured Black as a guest speaker. She spoke on the pros and cons of filmmaking, gave advice regarding how to capture a producer’s attention and answered several questions from the audience. In attendance were several aspiring filmmakers, both young and old.
“It has been really inspiring,” said Black. “There is a risk-taking and creativity level that is not in the blockbuster films.”
Freshman Emily Dykes, an English education major, played a lead role in the film “3 Guys and a Guru,” which encompassed all the comedy, drama and romance of a full-length film in 20 minutes.
“We worked with our talented theatre teacher,” said Dykes. “We tried to find a lesson to do every year. Usually they are really serious but last year we wanted them to be funny. It was really awesome to view them with our family and be a part of the Jamfest Festival.”
The traditional Louisiana Filmmaker Award was given to Charley Vance for directing “3 Guys and a Guru.” Platinum awards were given for Best Short Subject, Best Feature and Best Documentary Feature in the form of crystal trophies. The platinum award for Best Drama Feature was given to the production company Imaginary Friends for their film, “Anyone.”