Penn State’s Student Film Organization held its annual Blue and White Film Festival Tuesday evening at The State Theatre.
Celebrating the hard work and accomplishments of the student filmmakers, the festival provides the opportunity to showcase their work on the silver screen and for an audience, as well as the opportunity to be judged by a panel of film alumni and other Penn State faculty in related departments.
This year’s festival featured 12 films, all written, filmed and edited by Penn State students, as well as a Q&A with the three winners of the screenwriting competition.
The organization’s executive board opened the evening by giving thanks to the Bellisario College of Communications, Marie Hardin, the dean of the college, Martin Camden, an assistant teaching professor, The State Theatre and others who contributed to the making of the event.
The featured films ranged from comedies to documentaries to unexpected dramas, and audience members were excited to watch.
“I came out tonight because I really enjoy film, and I know somebody who has a project at this festival,” Halle Fuller, a second-year student studying mechanical engineering, said.
Kicking off the evening was the short film, “Triad of Greed,” directed by Andrew Reilly. Its intensity captivated the audience and elicited gasps during the film’s climax.
The serious tone didn’t last long with “The Glass Eaters,” directed by Kameron Thomas Skrobacz coming soon after. The film featured a group of men dressed in their best 70s attire eating glass off the floor of a parking garage in a montage that had the audience laughing.
“I think (this opportunity) is important in terms of job experience because you want to have opportunities to do things outside the classroom that are meaningful,” Heather Galinato, a second-year student studying psychology, said.
The final film before the intermission was “How to Say Hi” directed by Daniel Serdy. The film displayed an awkward series of exchanges between a student trying to learn to make friends with the help of another student. The audience laughed and cringed, but was met with an unexpected emotional moment at the film’s conclusion.
But it wasn’t just fictional stories being shown. “Down at The Goal Line” directed by Jase Gibbons was a documentary style short film following former Penn State football player, Stephen Pitts, as well as his NFL career and the health problems that ended it.
Angjuli Grenoble, who came to the festival after a film professor suggested it, said she thinks this showcase is special for students.
“It gives them a look into what they could possibly be doing as future careers,” Grenoble, a second-year student studying film production, said.
Whether it was the captivating animations in Lucas Michael Hydock’s “Toy Box” or the emotional choreography in Ryan Manuud’s “Standing Still,” the audience was treated to an evening of joy, comedy, emotion and heartbreak, all presented through the work of Penn State students.
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