By Ryan Di Corpo

Last Wednesday, freshly-minted filmmakers and seasoned veterans of the annual Campus MovieFest, a national short-film competition for college students, arrived in style at Keating Hall to walk the makeshift red carpet and take part in the screening of their films.

Each year, Campus MovieFest, abbreviated “CMF,” asks interested college directors, writers, actors and the like to create a five-minute short film to be screened in competition amongst their peers. CMF then selects the films to be shown at each school and awards worthy participants with the chance to compete on the national stage for a ticket to, and the showcasing of one’s work at, the Cannes Film Festival: arguably the world’s most prestigious festival of its kind.

As students gathered last week into the crowded, bustling confines of the first floor Keating auditorium, the air was jubilant and electric, nevertheless tempered by a sense of uncertainty and hope. After receiving 68 submissions from Fordham students, CMF can only select the top 16 films to be screened and entered into competition. The dimming of the lights in the auditorium then revealed an impressive array of filmic talent and creativity, as each of the 16 films were screened in front of a highly energetic audience.

The films screened were striking in their diversity, from the startling horror of Classified to the absurdist, politically-charged comedy of Dead Roommate Blues. Campus MovieFest also revealed the screenwriting talents of its participants, talents evident in The Last Playboys: Parts I and II and in Carly’s Crazy Challenge Vids.

At the end of the night, seven awards were presented amongst five different films. The Audience Award, an award given to the film which brought the most people to the MovieFest, went to the entirety of The Last Playboys, as did the Silver Tripod Award for Best Cinematography. The Silver Tripod Award for Best Actress went to Caitlyn Letterii, FCRH ’17, for her hilarious turn as a YouTube-obsessed teen in Carly’s Crazy Challenge Vids.

“This is all I’ve ever worked for,” said Letterii upon accepting her award.

In addition, the CMF board selected four films to receive Jury Awards. Classic Misdirection, regarding one student’s quest to be “cool” by any means necessary, received the Jury Award.

“I’ve been actually classic misdirectioning [sic] these guys in real life for three years. So we thought, ‘Why not throw me in the fridge?’” quipped the film’s star Joe Southern, FCRH ’17.

Jury Awards also went to Cat Adventures, Finding a Purpose, and ZEST., an expertly filmed yarn regarding a lost orange’s journey back to its buyer, or to something more. Perhaps the mood of the evening can be appropriately summarized by actor and director James Squitieri, FCRH ’18, who won the Jury Award for Finding a Purpose.

“I feel like Adele at Grammys,” he said.