Block 8 - Student Films

About This Program

We received a lot of great student entries from the Great Lakes region and elsewhere. In this sampling, you’ll see the work of talented college students in all short categories. Most of our selections are from Michigan or Ontario.

Things We Carry

Director: Paul Morisette

Narrative Short, USA, 2019, 19 min, Color, Student Project (Compass College of Cinematic Arts, Grand Rapids, MI, US)

A woman with a dark past hitchhikes a ride from a mysterious stranger. Growing uneasy, she discovers suspicious findings in his car as things spiral out of control.

Great Lakes connection: The film was shot in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area.

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Embrace Where You Come From

Director: Chris Yang

Documentary Short, USA, 2019, 4 min, Color, Student Project (Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI, US)

This short documentary interviews two young people about the Hmong heritage that they were born into while living in the United States.

Great Lakes connection: The director is a student in Marquette, Michigan.

No links

Reggie

Director: Devin Durocher

Narrative Short, USA, 2019, 18 min, Color, Student Project (Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, US)

What happens when a robot gets fired and had his memory chip wiped, erasing all knowledge of what he used to do, or what he’s meant to do?

Great Lakes connection: All the cast, crew, actors, and donors are from the areas of Lansing and Metro Detroit/Downriver, Michigan.

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Alexa

Director: Alexa Range

Documentary Short, USA, 2019, 5 min, Color, Student Project (Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI, US)

A comedic and reflective documentary expressing the struggles of being named Alexa in a society where the Amazon Echo has come into existence.

Great Lakes connection: The film was shot in Michigan.

No links

Flow

Director: Lari Wendt

Animation, USA, 2019, 1 min, Color, Student Project (Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI, US)

This animation combines visual art and dance through a process of choreographing a dance, shooting and editing video, rotoscoping, digital painting, and creating audio. The rotoscoping style used is a combination of meticulously drawn frames taken directly from sections of video and sketchier frames drawn more loosely that were created using the video as a reference, but with some interpretation of the dancer’s movement.

Great Lakes connection: The animator lives in Marquette County, Michigan and is a recent graduate of Northern Michigan University.

No links

Crime and Punishment

Director: Vladimir Sokolskyy

Narrative Short, Canada, 2019, 13 min, Color, Student Project (Sault College, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada)

An adaptation of Dostoyevsky's classic novel about a young student, Rodion Raskolnikov, and his moral dilemmas.

Great Lakes connection: The film was shot in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and most of the crew was from the area.

Project Website

Multiply

Director: Jermaine Davis

Narrative Short, USA, 2018, 15 min, Color, Student Project (Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, US)

Blame starts to fall upon a young graphic designer for trouble that she does not remember causing.

Great Lakes connection: The film was shot and takes place in Flint, Michigan.

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Dance Ditchers

Director: Jon Mayer

Narrative Short, USA, 2019, 11 min, Color, Student Project (Huntington University, Huntington, IN, US)

Three students decide to ditch their school dance and have their own “party” in the halls of the school, but they encounter trouble when they run into a no-nonsense teacher who wants to keep the halls quiet and the ex-girlfriend of one of the students.

Great Lakes connection: The director is a student in Huntington, Indiana.

No links

Private Barry

Director: Tyler Szuch

Narrative Short, USA, 2019, 25 min, Color, Student Project (Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, US)

A newly assigned Casualty Notification Officer for the United States Army struggles to cope with the horror of visiting families on the worst day of their lives.

Project Website