Twelve student films, many complete with original scores, made their TU debut at the Lorton Performing Arts Center on Monday, March 6th. The films ranged from the futuristic “116” to racially charged “House Jazz.” At the end of the evening, Chandler Barrett’s “House Jazz” took home the awards for Best Picture and Audience Choice.
During the student film awards, other prizes awarded were Runner Up (Lisandro Boccacci’s “If Only”), Best Senior (Steven Buchele) and Best Actor/Actress (Tabitha Littlefield). Barrett’s film was not done just yet. “House Jazz” also won Best Score, composed by Dominique Barnes. However, TU is not the only place film students received recognition this year.
In 2016 the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition awarded Boccacci with a grant to create his now upcoming film “Up from Smoke and Ash.” This film will be screened at the Momentum Event in Oklahoma City March 24-25. His film “If Only” from the TU Film Festival and Anne Mirrop’s film “Oh Larry!” were selected for screening at the BisonBison Film Festival in Ponca City on April 7-8. This film festival took submissions from throughout the Midwest.
Past honors for students in the film department include Chase Chambers’ Student Emmy for his 2016 film “Deaf Code” which discussed deaf culture and debunked many of the myths surrounding deaf people’s lives. TU alumnus Brian Du just finished working as a post production assistant on a documentary called “Far Western” that was selected for the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam. Also, recent alumna Bridgette Smith worked for the Motion Picture Editor’s Guild in Los Angeles and had a chance to attend the Oscars.
