On December 14th, the Yeshiva University Film Club in collaboration with the Office of Student Life hosted the first ever YU short film festival with a turnout of a little over 20 students. While there have been other similar events, such as the political satire film festival earlier this semester, this was the first film festival where the short films were created by students as an art form.
Navah Maynard, president of the Media Club, and Carmelle Danneman, already a veteran filmmaker, both worked tirelessly to bring this event to campus and get students to participate. Danneman’s film, “Send in the Clowns,” has won several awards– most recently at a YU Gala Dinner. Her passion for filmmaking led her to bring this event to students. “We thought of the film festival last semester and then started hearing of more students who were creating films, and thought this would be a great opportunity to showcase their work,” Danneman said.
After students submitted their films, Maynard and Danneman screened each one before sending it to the Office of Student Life for the green light.
“Some films were not accepted due to the lack of cohesion with the rest of the submitted films… When it came down to it, the films that we chose represent a variety of students’ perspectives on filmmaking, while also demonstrating that they take their art seriously. You can really tell the difference between someone making videos as an art form versus someone just messing around with a camera,” Maynard and Danneman agreed.
Six films were subsequently chosen and shown at the festival by a variety of both current students and alumni: “Fred Like Me” by Oren Herschander, both “The Puppeteer” and “Send in the Clowns” by Carmelle Danneman, “The Dollhouse” by Raquel Miller, “Is This Mine?” by Leora Veit, and “Chilled Vengeance” by Malka Sigal.
“I’ve shown my videos in class before, but this was the first time they were viewed publicly at an event,” said Sigal, a recent Stern graduate and current Stanton Fellow at Yeshiva University. “I was very honored to be included.”
“While I was in Stern, there was no opportunity for students to show their films in a public format in school. Navah and Carmelle are great. I hope they continue to give students (and recent alumni!) the opportunity to share their work,” said Veit, another recent Stern graduate. “It was great to show my film to an audience of people who really understand the process of filmmaking,” she added.
Neither Sigal nor Veit would call themselves a filmmaker, but both do currently work as professionals in the video industry.
“I spend more of my time working in media or on commercials. I think most people who work on films today don’t make a living off of it. It’s like making a living as a book author. It would be nice, but it’s not a realistic career goal. You do it because you have a story you want to share. The films shown at this event were labors of love, not attempts to make money,” said Veit.
Both Sigal and Veit were undoubtedly impacted by the teachers and classes in the art department at Stern College. Because the classes are generally kept small, the teachers get to know each student personally and offer support on all of a student’s creative projects, not just within their class assignments.
“While other majors go back to their rooms to study in the evenings, art majors stay together on the art floor until late at night, working on their projects. There’s a culture there, a community where students and teachers collaborate and learn from each other,” Veit explained.
This film festival and student-generated interest in filmmaking shows a new dimension of the Yeshiva University student body. The Yeshiva University Journal of Fine Arts, YU’s cross-campus publication of student writing and art, is also including a Moving Arts section on its website this year to feature student films.
“A small community of student filmmakers has been growing over the past few years, and we’ve grown enough that it’s no longer unheard of to be making videos in Stern,” said Sigal.