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Faces Behind The Scenes |
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On the first day, she came in the classroom in a hurry with a thick stack of syllabi and a thick Polish accent. Sixteen pages to outline the semester when most teachers barely eek out three?!? This professor and this class had a lot ahead of them. The Film Festival: Faces of Democracy in Contemporary World Cinema course attracted students from an array of majors and from various film backgrounds. Some of us were drawn to the inner workings of a film festival. Some of us were drawn by the socio-political aspect of the course theme. Some of us were reading subtitles for the first time, but we all had an area in which to participate. One of the first tasks was to form film festival committees based on our interests, links to our majors or curiosity about an unexplored realm. The original committees included the Selection Committee, the Design Committee, the Funding/Finance Committee and the Public Relations Committee. As tasks were crossed off the to-do list and new tasks emerged, the committees broke down and merged into new arrangements. The professor and students simultaneously met with radio stations, newspaper editors, community ethnic organizations, potential sponsors and designers while exploring the theme of democracy in film. Each Wednesday night, the class took a small break from planning the festival to focus on film and democracy. Students volunteered for a topic of interest, watched from a list of relevant films and presented their choice film to the class. After a night of reflection, the class reconvened the following day to discuss the film, watch supplementary clips or shorts and later write a short response essay. Topics included the Polish road to freedom, corporate globalization, selling democracy, occupation, the media, female equality, immigration, terrorism, racism, corruption and the shaping of class in America. With such dense topics, it was often useful to call for reinforcements. A few guests came to present their special niches to the class. University of Pittsburgh Professor John Markoff laid a foundation by giving a brief history of democracy. Iris Kaminski of The Middle East Peace Forum of Pittsburgh led the discussion on settlements in the Israeli film, "Campfire." Carnegie Mellon Professor Dragan Kovacevic presented a film he produced, "Three Summer Days" in combination with an introduction to Serbian cinematography. Sixteen pages of a syllabus really does not last that long. Opening night is right around the corner, and we are anxious to share all our hard work with the Pittsburgh community. Chances are that we may have already bombarded your inbox, nagged you for money, thrown post cards, posters and personal film recommendations your way or called your cell phone every other hour. This event would not be possible without the hard work of sponsors, generous supporters, volunteers, and the community. See you all November 29, 2006 when we kick off Faces of Democracy: The Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival! |
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Casey Taylor
Selection Committee
Casey Taylor is a twenty-year-old sophomore majoring in Creative Writing. His favorite films include Rushmore, Magnolia, and Taxi Driver. In addition to having an unparalleled dancing ability, in his spare time, Casey enjoys writing short fiction and making macaroni sculptures.
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Piyush Gupta
Administrative Committee
Piyush is on the administrative side, mainly handling coordinating the events at South Side Works Cinemas and the Regent Square Theater, and other administration concerns. Piyush's favorite film is My Country, My Country.
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Ashley Birt
Selection Committee
Ashley Birt is a senior Creative Writing major and head of the selection committee. She is very proud of all the hard work and dedication put in by everyone in the festival, specifically her fellow selection committee members. Her favorite film in the festival is Avenge But One of My Two Eyes, but Czech Dream comes in at a very close second.
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Frederico Pineda
Selection Committee
Frederico is arranging the directors' visits and wishing the media and technology crew would just let him buy his own microphone! His favorite movie is Avenge But One of My Two Eyes.
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Joanne Kilgour
Administrative Committee
Joanne's favorite film is I Love You. She is working day and night on the administrative committee and wishes budgets had nothing to do with films, festivals, or democracy.
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Erika Bannon
Administrative Committee
Erika works with funding and logistics. She likes to run, listen to books and podcasts, and read blogs. Currently she is watching Ze Frank and TED (Technology Entertainment and Design). Erika reads a lot of SF and mystery but is trying to break into a little nonfiction.
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Cory Gavin
Cory's favorite movie on the program is Czech Dream. Things that excite him are: painting, books, biking, graffiti, dance parties, and good company. Cory has an obsession with collecting rare opera recordings, particularly from eastern European singers.
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Kimberly Wedderburn
Administrative Committee
Kimberly is a Senior Professional Writing major with a passion for fundraising. She has experience in non-profit development and hopes to start her own non-profit organization one day.
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Quelcy Kogel
Artistic Director
One of Quelcy's increasing interests has been social and political commentary through film. Somehow that led her to struggling with international DVD player regions in the Hunt library basement, meeting with designers in the South Side, attending Czech nationality meetings, designing t-shirts, writing to embassies, accosting anyone mentioning film affiliations and converting her kitchen table into a hands-off work station complete with a space heater, extra cushions and an array of mugs that once held tea. Quelcy will not know what to do with so much free time after December 10th!
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Jolanta Lion
PR Committee
Jolanta Lion is a senior English major and Jazz Vocal Performance minor. She is head of the PR Committee and creator of the first International Short Film Competition. Danielle's favorite film of the festival is Black Gold.
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Greg Gonzalez
Design Committee
Greg is a senior civil engineer, member of the design committee and one of the two webmasters for the site. His love for the arts and cinema are both going to be fulfilled when it's finally opening night. Hats off to the class, for a lot of hard work! Favorite film: Czech Dream.
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Grace Boateng
Design Committee
Grace is a junior art major (for the time being). Grace has contributed to this festival with various art-related tasks. She applauds each of the films in this festival as well as her fellow classmates. Some of her favorite things include: smiles/hugs, "The Final Countdown" by Europe, The Pistons, drawing, anything John Williams composes, silent laughter, and probably you.
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Nick Morozovsky
Design Committee
Nick is a senior mechanical engineer and one of the webmasters of this web site. Nick's love of film and hobby in video editing drove him to be involved in the festival. Besides working on the festival, Nick is consumed with his other classes, research in the NanoRobotics Lab, searching for a job, and buggy.
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Brad Matta
PR Committee
Brad is a Pubic Policy and Management major. He is responsible for on and off campus advertisements. His favorite film is Czech Dream for its reference to his ethnic heritage. Brad has enjoyed the enthusiastic responses he has received while promoting the festival to the community.
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Lauren Klixbull
Design Committee
Lauren Klixbull is a senior art major and has been an integral part of creating the festival trailer. Her two favorite films in the festival are: Stolen Eyes and I Love You.
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Sean Healy
Selection Committee
Sean Healy is proud of the work put in by the members of the festival class. He knows that this will be the best Carnegie Mellon Film Festival yet. Sean also knows that the film Your Name is Justine will be loved by the audience.
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Lesley Ridge
PR Committee
Lesley Ridge is a junior Professional Writing major. She has enjoyed the experience of putting together the film festival through the collaborative effort of class. She hopes to have a career in production upon graduation. Her favorite film is Czech Dream.
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Rob Pearson
Selection Committee
Rob is a Policy and Management major. He is a fan of classic jazz and classic rock. Rob enrolled in this course because he wanted to spread his love for film and democracy to everyone else in Pittsburgh. My favorite film is Do the Right Thing.
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Jolanta Lion
Festival Director
Jolanta compares making the Faces of Democracy International Film Festival to the process of making a film...an INDEPENDENT film! The first requirement is a festival theme much like the preliminary concepts and scripts for a film. The next challenge is finding a sponsor to support the theme or a producer to back the film idea. Logos and designs emerge just as storyboards and sketches begin to visually narrate the auteur's vision. Festival planners vie for venues for their viewers while filmmakers finagle access for shooting locations. Directing a festival requires time with each committee as its members step into new roles and try new techniques. The results are often unpredictable, and revision is essential. Film directors spend night and day guiding actors as they step into new roles and experiment with their approaches to their new character. Film Festivals undergo an editing phase not unlike that of a film. Are the themes conveyed? Will people respond? If the answer is no, there are more refinements to make until all creative parties are satisfied. Another round of promotion is integral to both festival and film directors at this stage. There can never be too much publicity. When all things are in place, and only the red carpet remains, the worries emerge. What if no one comes? Will they like it? Of course, in the end, both the festival director and filmmaker are subject to the critics for after all, everyone is a critic! Enjoy the show!
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David Shumway
Director of the Humanities Center at Carnegie Mellon
Even festival directors have to have a supervisor!
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