Cinelon Productions will host its annual showcase on Thursday, May 3, in Turner Theatre. The festival begins with a red-carpet event at 6 p.m., followed by film screenings at 7 p.m.
In advance of its annual film festival, Cinelon Productions received 71 submissions across a variety of film genres. The student-run production company officially selected 26 films to screen at the Cinelon Film Festival, and movie enthusiasts can enjoy them on campus on Thursday, May 3.
The festival kicks off at 6 p.m. with a red-carpet event featuring interviews conducted by members of “E-Talk,” ESTV’s student-run entertainment show. Film screenings will begin at 7 p.m. in Turner Theatre. The festival adopted a new format this year and films will be shown in two one-hour video blocks.
In total, 23 short films will be screened as well as one Elon B.F.A. thesis project and two films produced by Cinelon Productions. The thesis project, “Not Everything Is Black And White,” was created by Adrian Freyermuth ’18 and Arlet VanHoutan ’18. The short fiction film follows the story of a dark-skinned girl, Koshi Mitchell, and her adoptive white family.
Film entries range from fiction, documentary, experimental and dance/music video.
According to Cinelon President Jared Mayerson ’20, the organization accepted submissions from other schools and received “a lot of high-quality work from very talented filmmakers,” he said.
Submissions came from students studying at Elon, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, University of Texas at Austin, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and two high schools.
“Cinema and television arts is such a collaborative major that we hope the Cinelon Productions Film Festival serves as an opportunity for student filmmakers to network and meet other student filmmakers, as well as gain inspiration from others’ work,” Mayerson said.
Additionally, Cinelon Productions introduced two awards this year, including an Executive Board Choice Award. “Scarlet,” submitted by Joey Sears of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, is this year’s recipient and the film will open the festival’s second video block.
Audience members will also be able to cast their vote on the Audience Choice Award at the conclusion of the festival.