Faculty, students attend South Dakota Film Festival
Film Production and Animation students and alumni show work, win awards
Professors Anthony Adah, Don Clark, and Kyja K-Nelson of the School of Media Arts and Design, along with three vans full of students, represented MSUM at the 11th annual South Dakota Film Festival. Students participated in screenings, networking events, and Q/A sessions with filmmakers from around the world. MSUM students, faculty and alumni were also well represented in the Official Selections of the festival and honored with awards.
Recent Graphic Communications alumna Hanna Loegering won Best Student Animated Film, for her senior project Last Tuesday with Grandpa, which combined 2D and 3D animation and took Hanna 600 hours to animate. Film alumna Amber Johnson was awarded the Excellence in Filmmaking Award for her short narrative film, Lady Lillian. Film alumni Greg Carlson and Mike Scholtz took Best Documentary Short for their film, On the Wall, Off the Chain.
Recent graduates, current students and a faculty member were also represented in the festival’s Official Selections. The films exhibited from MSUM’s Animation and Film Production programs showcased work from first year classes through advanced and senior projects. Joe Greening, Amanda Hunter, Ellen Dawley, Derek Bauer, and Jess Gruba screened their senior thesis film, Flicker. Aaron Beck, Trenton Smith, Jordan Kilian and Tannah Gilman screened their 16mm film, Jazzy & Mumbo. Animation major Jes Kalina and recent film production graduate Derek Bauer screened their animated short, Printer. Katie Urmann screened her short animated film, Safe. Finn Harrison screened his short narrative, The Pretentious French Film. Jack Anderson screened his documentary short, Pipedreams. Film production majors Steven Warkel, Sewon Hwang, Brady Halverson, Remmer Schoenbohm and Benjamin Ledinsky screened their short 16mm film, Stanley. Additionally, Professor Kyja K-Nelson screened her new documentary short, In Our World, which was shot in Iceland with support from a Faculty Development Grant.
The festival also honored MSUM alumnus Brent Brandt with a standing ovation for his work producing the South Dakota Film Festival over the last decade. Leading sponsorships, fundraising, curating films, emceeing each event, and securing major festival guests and filmmakers like Kevin Costner, among countless other responsibilities, Brent has played an integral role in the success, growth and development of the festival. Brent recently moved to Fargo and is beginning the next chapter in his career.