The University of Notre Dame’s Department of Film, Television, and Theatre (FTT) announces the 32nd Annual Notre Dame Student Film Festival: Quarantined, to be streamed on FTT’s YouTube channel at 7:00 pm on Sunday, May 2. In-person screenings in the Browning Cinema will be restricted to a limited number of Notre Dame students, faculty, and staff and will take place Thursday, April 29 – Sunday, May 2.
An annual launching pad for student filmmakers as they begin their careers in the film, television, and entertainment industries, the Notre Dame Student Film Festival screens films that were made by undergraduate students during the past year as class projects in the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre.
Halfway through the spring semester in 2020, Notre Dame sent its students home due to the pandemic, and classes were taught online. Without access to FTT equipment, students made films with their phones as cameras, their families as actors. In the fall, though back at Notre Dame, they were restricted to filming while socially distanced within the confines of campus. Numerous times, crew and cast members were quarantined for weeks.
“The 32nd Annual Notre Dame Student Film Festival: Quarantined is a collection of films made during this unprecedented time,” says festival founder and FTT faculty member Ted Mandell. “It’s a time capsule of the campus atmosphere and a testament to our students’ creativity, resilience, and perseverance.”
As in recent years, after each screening audience members will be invited to vote for their favorite film via text message. Both online and in-person audiences will have the opportunity to vote for the Audience Choice Award, which will be presented to the student director(s) of the winning film after the final screening.
The festival has featured the first films of future award-winning filmmakers such as Peter Richardson (2011 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Award winner, How To Die in Oregon) and John Hibey (2012 Sundance Film Jury Award Winner for Short Filmmaking, Fishing Without Nets), as well as numerous others. It has served as the springboard for successful careers in every aspect of the industry, where ND Student Film Festival alumni have worked on everything from Saturday Night Live to La La Land.
Many films from past festivals have also been selected for national and international film festivals, including:
Tape Wizard - 2020 Bolton International Film Festival, 2020 Portland Film Festival
Sandbranch - 2020 International Social Change Film Festival
Shelter Me - 2019 Arizona International Film Festival (Best Short Documentary), 2019 Atlanta ShortsFest Film Festival (Best Documentary Short)
Emma. - 2019 NYC Short Documentary Film Festival (Best Director Award), 2019 Harvard College Film Festival
Breaking the Cycle - 2018 New York City Short Film Festival (Best Documentary Short), 2018 USA Film Festival (First Place Non-Fiction Short Film), 2018 Ivy Film Festival (Best U.S. Undergraduate Documentary)
Peace at the Pipeline - 2017 San Pedro International Film Festival, 2017 Riverside International Film Festival
patrolling sandy hook - 2016 USA Film Festival (Winner, Special Jury Award), 2016 DocuWest International Film Festival (Winner, Women Who Doc Award)
Eat. Ride. Sleep. - 2015 Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Midwest Emmy Award Nominee
Curry & Erin - 2015 Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival (Special Jury Prize, Collegiate Documentary)
The Suicide Disease - 2014 Sunset International Film Festival (Winner, Best Short Documentary)
The films featured in the 2021 Notre Dame Student Film Festival:
Our Year (4:27)
Ana Wolfermann
On New Year’s Eve 2019, life was feeling great.
Singing Through The Masks (10:59)
Mariella Stephens
With live theatre shut down, senior Ronnie Mansour stages her original musical in a most peculiar way.
Busted (7:27)
Grace Beutter
There’s got to be a morning after.
Gatekeeper (5:43)
Joel Mandell, Laila Ibrahim
They never witnessed a football season like 2020, but they’ve witnessed just about everything else.
Carved (3:56)
Briana Avila
A very heady Halloween.
Scott - no relation (17:51)
Scott Kiley
It’s hard to be funny during a pandemic.
Home (4:56)
Ivan Skvaril, Bella Martinez, William Ventura-Chavez, Parker Jochum, Peter Dore
Sent home for the semester, five students capture quarantine life in 60 seconds.
Kurt (5:31)
Nate Robards
Lather, rinse, repeat, lather, rinse, repeat, lather, rinse.
Full Peal (5:24)
Parker Jochum, Abby Stokes
The bells of the Basilica are usually heard, not seen….until now.
Scissors (2:49)
Bella Martinez
The dark side of scrapbooking.
The Dating Class (11:31)
Lizzie Todd, JD Carney
At Notre Dame, you can go on a date…and get extra credit for it.
21. across (9:17)
Kilian Vidourek
A man goes through his daily routine. Things get bizarre.
Self Entertainment (4:44)
Brendan Gage
Quarantined at home, with your phone as a camera.
Alone Together (8:00)
Michael Enright, Grace Akin
In fall 2020, students returned to campus...as an isolated community.
Chow Time / Study Buddy (6:37)
Hugh Flynn, Kelsey Allen
"Animatics" are a guide for creating an eventual finished animated film. Along with scriptwriting, the animatic is the first step in planning/visualizing the story before the actual production begins, which can take years.
Supply and Demand (2:12)
Parker Jochum
A short about a shortage.
SCREENINGS
Thursday, April 29 at 7:30 pm
Friday, April 30 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, May 1 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, May 2 at 7:00 pm with simultaneous YouTube livestream*
*Audience Choice Award will be presented after the 7:00 pm screening on Sunday.
Attendance limited to Notre Dame students, faculty, and staff; a maximum of 72 tickets will be available for each screening. Tickets (free) may be reserved at performingarts.nd.edu one hour prior to the screening.
The livestream on Sunday, May 2 at 7:00 pm may be viewed on FTT’s YouTube channel.
Running Time: Approximately 120 min. Some films contain mature content.
Notre Dame’s Department of Film, Television, and Theatre seeks to inspire intellectual inquiry and nurture creativity. We offer both a scholarly and a creative context for the general liberal arts student at Notre Dame as well as those students seeking intensive preparation for advanced study in these fields. The hands-on nature of our curriculum, coupled with a very high degree of student-faculty interaction, provides students with a singular educational opportunity at a university known for its teaching excellence. The Notre Dame Student Film Festival is a direct outgrowth of the department’s academic program and an integral component of our students’ artistic development.
Follow FTT on Twitter @NDFTT. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NDFTT.