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Ftma Film Festival

The Sacred Heart University film department hosted the second annual FTMA Film Festival from September 17-20, screening 13 student films. Special guests included Brian Koppelman, Jeremy Pikser, Kevin Nealon, Shuli Egar, Keith Alberstadt, and Richard Kind. Events included screenwriting and alumni panels, film screenings, and comedy performances. "The Star Gazers" won best picture, "The Shell" won best screenplay, and "One Night Only" won best director. The festival aims to build a film community and engage attendees.

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90 views3 pages

Ftma Film Festival

The Sacred Heart University film department hosted the second annual FTMA Film Festival from September 17-20, screening 13 student films. Special guests included Brian Koppelman, Jeremy Pikser, Kevin Nealon, Shuli Egar, Keith Alberstadt, and Richard Kind. Events included screenwriting and alumni panels, film screenings, and comedy performances. "The Star Gazers" won best picture, "The Shell" won best screenplay, and "One Night Only" won best director. The festival aims to build a film community and engage attendees.

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Second Annual FTMA Film Festival Recap

The Sacred Heart University film department hosted the FTMA Film Festival from

Thursday Sept. 17 to Sunday Sept. 20.

The first event was at The Avon Theater in Stamford. On the other three days, the event

was held at the new Frank and Marisa Martire Business and Communication Center at Sacred

Heart University.

Aside from the incredible work of our students and being able to host the festival in the

new Martire Building, this year we are bringing in some remarkable guests, real filmmakers who

have been at the center of some of the most important films of the last twenty-five years, said

Professor Justin Liberman, who is one of the founders of the FTMA program.

Many special guests attended the film festival including Brian Koppelman, Jeremy

Pikser, Kevin Nealon, Shuli Egar, Keith Alberstadt, and Richard Kind.

There's a lot of energy surrounding the Festival and it really confirms the community

feel of the FTMA program. For me, it's wonderful example of what teaching and being part of a

university is all about, said Dr. Sidney Gottlieb, an FTMA professor.

There were 20 students in the FTMA Class of 2015 and 13 student films were presented

between Program A and Program B. Program A consisted of the first five films and Program B

played the rest of the films.

The first event of the film festival was an opening night awards gala. The FTMA

Trailblazer Award was presented to Koppelman. He co-wrote films such as Rounders, Oceans

Thirteen, and Runaway Jury.


The second day, Friday Sept. 18, was a full day of events. Pikser hosted a Screenwriting

Masterclass as the first event of the day. He is an Academy Award Nominee for the screenplay he

co wrote with Warren Beatty, Bulworth.

Later on in the night was an Alumni Spotlight Screening. Nealon was honored with a

tribute at the screening as well as presented with the FTMA Pioneer Award, which is designed to

honor an alumni who has made an impact in the film and television industry.

Starting late into the night and ending in the early morning hours, there was a reception,

called Send Up to Stand Up. This time, it included stand up performances by Egar, Alberstadt,

and Nealon.

All three stand up performers have been a part of famous platforms. Egar was a news

reporter/correspondent for The Howard Stern Show, Alberstadt was featured on Late Night

with David Letterman, and Nealon was a cast member on Saturday Night Live and Weeds.

The third day, Saturday Sept. 19, had another full day of events.

First off was the Orson Welles Centennial Coffee Talk and Screening of Touch of Evil and

F for Fake. Gottlieb hosted this event.

The CMS BBQ was also on Saturday and was open to all communication and media

studies students.

Next came the FTMA Student Film Screening.

The first five films screened were Washed, Blood, Shadow, The F Word, and

The Shell.
The second half featured the films, The Star Gazers, Film School, The Flower

Children, Void, Kelly, One Hell of a Lawyer, Gone Before Us, and One Night Only.

The first section had a relatively calm audience with The Shell getting loud cheers. The

second half had the audience erupt in laughter and loud cheers after each film.

The jury-selected films were One Night Only, The Shell, The Star Gazers, and

Void.

The Shell won the Jury Award for Best Screenplay (Kevin Jones).

The Star Gazers won the Jury Award for Best Picture (Andrea Van Nierkerk, Brendon

Engle, Elani Smith, and Zane Luther).

One Night Only won the Jury Award for Best Director (Stephen Emerick).

The Jury Award for Best Producer went to Ashley Vanderwaren (Shadow, Void, and

Gone Before Us).

On Sunday, the closing day film screening took place, where Kind was awarded the

FTMA Maverick Award. He played a role in the movie A Serious Man and is currently

involved in Inside Out.

The festival becomes more and more of a tradition. In its second year, we have started to

see people look forward to seeing talented student films and be a part of the film community.

Community is our biggest focus. We want people to engage and have a good experience, said by

Professor Damon Maulucci, co director and co founder of the FTMA program.

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