The red-carpet event, held at the Tsai Performance Center April 15, attracted a sizable, at-times boisterous, crowd. “It’s a lot of fun to do these award shows live, especially if Will Smith isn’t on the guest list,” quipped Bill Braudis, a COM assistant professor of film and television.
Student Life
42nd annual COM event awards Roses and Red Noses with Best Picture, has new best actor category
A boisterous crowd was on hand Friday, April 15, at the Tsai Performance Center, to cheer on the winners of the 42nd annual Redstone Film Festival. The event marked the first time the festival was held in person since 2019, and the filmmakers’ friends and families were there to celebrate their perseverance and creativity.
Amy Geller (COM’16), a College of Communication instructor in film and television, summed up what this year’s crop of student filmmakers had achieved in one word: “pivoting.”
“These amazing students have done just that, [and] it proves that BU’s best and brightest can’t be stopped, even by a global pandemic,” she said.
The screening and awards ceremony, complete with a red carpet, attracted a sizable crowd, despite the Easter and Passover holidays and the long weekend. “It’s a lot of fun to do these award shows live, especially if Will Smith isn’t on the guest list,” quipped Bill Braudis, a COM assistant professor of film and television.
“It’s great to be back,” said Paul Schneider, a COM professor and film and television department chair, as he kicked off the event. “This is a chance for us to celebrate. The way we look at it, the stars of our department are our students, so we really want to showcase their work, and this is a chance to come together as a community and do that.”
The 2022 festival featured original films by COM film and television students. First, second, and third place awards were handed out to films, along with several other awards, ranging from best screenwriting to best sound design. The awards are sponsored by Canon and the Sumner M. Redstone Charitable Foundation, established by the late Boston native and billionaire media magnate Sumner M. Redstone (Hon.’94). Prizes included Canon cameras, a MacBook Air, and cash.
This year’s finalists were chosen by a committee of production, screenwriting, and film-studies graduates, with a panel of seven film industry professionals judging the finalists.
Roses and Red Noses was the night’s big winner. In addition to earning the festival’s first place, the film—about a clown who tries to woo a fellow clown on the Boston Common—also won for best cinematography and best sound design and tied for best editing. One can only imagine what passersby were thinking when the film was being shot, as the clown pair looked a little, well, creepy.
“This project was born not from freedom, but more from restrictions and regulations,” said director Zac Vujnov (COM’21) as he accepted the award via Zoom from Los Angeles. “I couldn’t have faces or mouths or smiles (actors had to remain masked due to COVID), couldn’t have big crews. So many things we couldn’t do. Instead of quitting and getting down, we used that motivation, used those restrictions to get creative.”
Second place was a tie between Manic and Double Take. Manic’s story revolves around a woman who initially appears to be trapped on a first date, but viewers gradually come to realize there are ulterior motives for the meeting. “This was a very special project for us. [The antagonist] was supposed to be a wealthier character, but we had to shoot it in my apartment, so he had to be more middle-class,” director Tim Choi (COM’22) said to laughter. “I’m really proud.”
Double Take, about two friends going on an Uber ride that spins out of control, not only shared second place honors, but won for best editing and took home the audience choice award. “Hearing you laugh, hearing you sigh—there’s nothing like it,” Geller said before asking people to vote for their favorite film using a QR code on their phones. “You can learn so much from the audience watching your films live.” That opportunity was denied the last two years’ winners, since the pandemic forced the 2020 and 2021 festivals to take place virtually.
This year’s other finalists: Blunt Force Trauma, about a professional crime scene cleanup crew, won third place honors and best screenplay; The Haunting at Marblehead, about a sibling duo who dupe people into paying them to investigate ghost hauntings, then encounter a real ghost; and La Bella Vita, which follows a couple as they struggle to balance their relationship and their careers.
Awards were also given for best actor (a new category this year) and student-written screenplays, as well as for film and television graduate students’ thesis projects. On April 22, the festival moves to Los Angeles, where the films will be judged by a different panel of experts.
Jen Cuciti (COM’21), Roses and Red Noses director of photography, echoed the sentiment of many of the winners in her acceptance speech, noting that these films wouldn’t have been possible without their crews of fellow students. “We had such a crazy year. The crew that we had was super special and everyone was super passionate,” she said. “I never worked on anything like this; we worked on clown movements in our living room, did choreography with Yo-El Cassell [a College of Fine Arts assistant professor of movement]. It was a great experience overall, and an honor to be part of this project.”
The full list of winners:
- First Place: Roses and Red Noses, directed by Zac Vujnov (COM’21) and produced by Nicole Barradas (COM’21)
- Second Place: Tie between Manic, directed by Tim Choi (COM’22) and produced by Juli Alonso (CGS’20, COM’22) and Katie Sorrell (COM’22), and Double Take, directed by Eli Canter (COM’23) and produced by Cameron Cullen (COM’22) and Geraldo Hinch (COM’23)
- Third Place: Blunt Force Trauma, directed by Kaylee Chin (COM’23) and produced by Christian Nibal (CGS’20, COM’22)
Best Screenplay:
- Blunt Force Trauma, written by Grace Rietta (COM’23)
Best Cinematographer:
- Roses and Red Noses, Jen Cuciti (COM’21), director of photography
Best Editing:
- Tie between Roses and Red Noses, edited by Sam Broach (COM’21), and Double Take, edited by Geraldo Hinch (COM’23) and Eli Canter (COM’23)
Best Actor:
- Tie between Mathew Lanon, who played Walter in Blunt Force Trauma, and Sami Nardone, who played Freddie in Manic
Best Sound Design:
- Roses and Red Noses, Zac Vujnov (COM’21), sound designer
Audience Award:
- Double Take, directed by Eli Canter (COM’23), produced by Cameron Cullen (COM’22) and Geraldo Hinch (COM’23), and written by Canter and Hinch
Best Alumni Short:
- Thrown to the Wolves, directed by the Hudson Dusters, aka Michael Kuhn (COM’98) and Niles Roth
Fleder Rosenberg Feature Script Award
- First place: Graveyard Gardens by Rose-Emma Lambridis (COM’22)
- Second place: Can We Stop Quoting Leviticus by Grace Saathoff (CFA’22, COM’22)
- Third place: Nice Jewish Boys by Sophie Falkenheim (COM’23)
Fleder Rosenberg Short Screenplay Contest
- First place: Baxter and the Bugman by Nell Ovitt (COM’23)
- Second place: Lock Jaw by Nina Barresi (COM’23)
- Third place: A Letter by Kimberly Low (COM’23, Questrom’23)
The Film and Television Studies Award for Innovative Scholarship
- Holly Cooper (COM’22)
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