By T.J. Accola
The still-infant UNO Short Film Festival held its second annual event, drawing more than 100 attendees and awarding the efforts of UNO’s filmmaking hopefuls.
More than a dozen short films were submitted to the festival, but time constraints prevented organizers from showing them all.
Among the films shown were: *Army Man by Josh Williamson, *Xanax & Tequila by Michael Hogan, *Rejection & Outlet by Rob Williams, *Mulgogi by Joel Ray, *Won’t Sleep by Dan Schlueter, *It’s about this couch … by Mike Machian and Bobbi McCollum, *Ketchup Roots by Jill Brown and *Roca, Papel, Tijera by Joey Buda.
Mark Hoeger, who teaches Film History & Appreciation at UNO, screened his short student film *Vinnie, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1979. Hoeger also showed a 4-minute clip that promoted a proposed Omaha-based movie studio, Oberon Entertainment.
Hoeger also explained the often complex filmmaking process and encouraged aspiring filmmakers to continue their efforts.
Buda’s *Roca, Papel, Tijera took top honors at the festival, winning Best Picture and the People’s Choice Award, as voted on by audience members.
*Won’t Sleep was honored for Best Editing, while *Ketchup Roots director Jill Brown was named Best Director and *It’s about this couch … was declared Best Original Idea.
Event organizer Zahra Cheema said that while this year’s festival did not attract the 300-plus attendees of last year’s festival, the “atmosphere was still there and the people were genuinely interested.”
Cheema said there was “definitely” interest in continuing the event next year and even beyond, with hopes of making it “bigger and bigger, better and better.”
Cheema, who organized the event along with fellow student Jeremy Lee, added that the Organization for Advancement of the Arts, which sponsored the event, was planning to form a year-round campus film club as an extension of the festival.
