Press Release from Big Mouth
Lecturers and students from the Swinburne School of Film and Television have had much to celebrate recently – with a number of impressive wins and accolades at the international WorldFest Houston film festival putting their work in the global spotlight.
Known for discovering such enigmatic talent as Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ridley Scott, The Coen Brothers, Oliver Stone, Peter Weir, Spike Lee and David Lynch, WorldFest Houston is ‘the’ festival to enter'.
Now in its 44th year, WorldFest is the oldest independent Film and Video Festival in the world. This year, over 4,500 entries were submitted to the festival from around the world, with 700 awards presented, 10 of which were ‘Grand Remis’.
Dr Jeff Bird, Lecturer in Cinematography at Swinburne said of Swinburne’s entries into the festival, “We made the decision to target American Film Festivals as there are more opportunities for our students to enter their work. What’s more, due to the sheer size of the festival, they are able to compare like with like, so a student piece of work is compared with other student pieces of work.”
Five submissions by Swinburne students received awards at WorldFest Houston 2011, they were:
‘Settle Down’, a music clip created for artist Kimbra by Guy Franklin (director, writer), Edward Goldner (Director of Photography) and Mary Minas (producer) which received a Grand Remi in the Music Video category.
‘Good Morning’ a claymation created buy Lauchlan Pevie, Chen Guang Su and Eddie Jakai which received a Platinum Remi in the Children/Family category.
‘Break’, a film created by Ray Pang (director) and Shelley Farthing-Dawe (Director of Photography) which received a Gold Remi in the Graduate Level Student Productions category.
‘Walk with Them’ a film shot by Edward Goldner which received a Platinum Remi (Cinematography – Shorts).
‘Morning Star’, a film by Jess Lawton (director and writer), Edward Goldner (Director of Photography) and Lani Kingston (producer) which received a Silver Remi (Graduate Level Student Productions).
The management of WorldFest Houston also asked if they could publicly screen ‘Break’ and ‘Good Morning’. Very few films are afforded this honour.
Jeff added, “The Grand Remi and the Special Jury Award are the two top awards in each of the festival’s 10 divisions so, for our students to win a Grand Remi is an amazing achievement, especially when they’re competing against professional industry teams.”
“The fact that our students also won 2 out of the 4 possible student places for graduates or university students is an enormous success for us. It speaks volumes for the course we offer and the enthusiasm and creativity of our students,” he added.
Students from the Swinburne School of Film and Television have already had much national recognition, with films shown at the St Kilda Film Festival and awards received in the Kodak Film Awards.
Their success at WorldFest Houston and the two wins by Edward Goldner at IndieFest California earlier this year are just the first in what teachers and students alike hope will be many more on the world stage.
So, how is a faculty from an Australian university making such an impressive impact in the international film and television industry? “We emphasise the importance of teaching our students the production processes that are actually used in the industry. We also try to tap into the industry itself and enlist the support of people who work in and ‘are’ the film industry in order to seek innovation and inspiration for our students. This means that our students are properly trained and by the time they actually get into the industry they’re ready and of the right skill level,” Jeff commented.
Edward Goldner, who won a Grand Remi for a team project, music video ‘Settle Down’ and a Platinum Remi for his cinematography on ‘Walk with Them’ said of his wins, “I was really, really excited to hear the good news. We were just about to shoot the second clip for the artist Kimbra, so to hear of our win at WorldFest was a positive affirmation for us.
“It’s really good to get exposure for your work outside Australia. I do put a lot of my work online, so you get people seeing it that way but to be part of an international festival like WorldFest means that you’re putting your work in front of other film makers and you’re also potentially opening up opportunities to work overseas in the future.”
Lauchlan Pevie, who won a Platinum Remi, along with Chen Guang Su and Eddie Jakai for their claymation ‘Good Morning’ said of their win, “I was pretty happy when we won. The thing that surprised me the most was that we weren’t entered into a student category – we were right in there with the big boys. I was amazed to find out that we were up against professional filmmakers. There was another film that was shot on 35mm that would have had a budget far beyond anything like our budget. And yet, we won.”
“The feeling when we won is hard to describe. The fact that had we won against the other competition really took me by surprise.”
Associate Professor Stephen Huxley, Director of Swinburne School of Film and Television commented, “We’re very proud of the fact that we are recognised by many as one of the best film schools in Australia, namely for the excellent creative edge we have as well as the high levels of production and the more serious business aspects that our course offers. Our students are exposed to so much that they are really and truly industry ready when they graduate and receiving accolades such as they have at WorldFest Houston only emphasises this fact.”
To find out more about the Swinburne School of Film and Television course, click here.