By Timothy Metcalf
Triangle Writer
In spring semester of 2004, Bryan College held the first Broad Street Film Festival. It was a much smaller event than it is today, a mere project for the Medium of Film class.
Now, nine years later, the tenth annual Broad Street Film Festival is approaching, and it is a much larger affair.
Next Thursday, April 11, students from six schools—Bryan College, Covenant College, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Southern Adventist University, Lee University, and Chattanooga State—for a screening of the short films that they have produced over the semester.
Out of the 20 to 30 applicants, only 15 will be selected for screening. The films will be competing for awards in 13 categories, ranging from Best Production Design (which looks at the set and costumes) to People’s Choice, which is determined by audience voting.
The festival will start at 8 p.m. on April 11, in Chattanooga at the Carmike Majestic 12 multiplex. The cost for tickets will be $10, with a $1 surcharge for using a credit card. At the end there will be an awards ceremony.
The schedule also looks exciting.
“We have a speaker who’s going to speak to the filmmakers and people interested in filmmaking before the films,” said Chris Leary, a member of the Festival’s film committee.
After this speech, the 15 chosen films will be screened for the audience. Four students from Bryan have submitted films, though they may not all have their films screened. These students are Jordan Armstrong, Christopher Leary, Justin Kelly, and TK King. King was gracious enough to allow the newspaper a brief summary of his film.
“Poker Face is about four guys, Mark, Steven, Jared and Simon, hanging out the night before a few of them head off to college. Hoping this will be a good time filled with laughs, the four guys soon realize that being apart may be harder than they expected.
“As tension builds, secrets are revealed that hinder the joyful spirit of their evening and continue to spiral the outlook of their futures out of control. It’s only a hopeful bet imagining something good coming from the circumstances of their situations. But, we all know: Sometimes you’re dealt a bad [hand]; sometimes you’re the dealer,” King said.
After the screenings, there will be an awards ceremony for the filmmakers. In years past, Covenant College has hosted an after-party, but it remains to be seen whether they will do so again.
But whether or not the after-party happens, the Broad Street Film Festival will not be what it once was.
Unfortunately, the Broad Street Film Festival is suffering financially. Even last year, they had to have a page on the popular crowd-funding website Kickstarter to get funded.
This semester, they’ve had to downsize. At most of the festivals, the awards ceremony was held at Tivoli Theatre. This semester, the ceremony will be held in the same facility as the screenings: Carmike Majestic 12. Unfortunately, that will mean that no part of the festival involves Broad Street.
