The Take XI Film Festival showcased student cinema and introduced young filmmakers to the entertainment industry.
The LSU School of Theatre held the Take XI Student Film Festival at the Shaver Theater in the Music and Dramatic Arts Building on May 4 at 2 p.m. This annual film festival featured 15 student short films, especially ones that highlight the two Geaux films, which are specially funded by the Department of Film and Television.
“It’s basically made as a showcase of the projects, in particular, of the film students in our university,” Sarah Picard, senior film and television major and director of one of the Geaux films, said. “It’s a pretty big deal as far as our sphere of influence goes.”
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Picard’s film “Doveweed” boasted around 40 crew members who shot the film over two 12-hour shoot days and was edited in just one month. Still, the team was able to create a worthwhile film in a relatively short amount of time.
“I love seeing the process of the film come together slowly,” Picard said. “ It has the same sort of delayed gratification that gardening does, where you see everything you planted just grow into fruition.”
Take XI is also an invaluable step for up-and-coming filmmakers to break into the industry. Layne Davis, director of the second Geaux film “Sink or Swim” and a junior double majoring in film and television and art, sees Louisiana as a major player in the entertainment industry.
“I feel like in Louisiana, we don’t talk enough about how much the entertainment industry is crucial to sort of, like, the wealth of the state of Louisiana,” Davis said. “There are major incentives for people to come and film here, and I think also just having a space for upcoming filmmakers to have a space to share their work is really important.”
Davis went on to cite the many blockbuster films that were filmed in Louisiana, including “The Iron Claw,” “Where the Crawdads Sing,” “Five Nights at Freddy’s” and more, as evidence of Louisiana’s foothold in the entertainment industry.
Out of the 41 films submitted, 15 were chosen for screening at the Take XI Film Festival. Choosing which films to screen was a razor-thin decision, professor Chris Stelly said, and it ultimately came down to small technical errors like run-time, late submission and sound mixing.
“So it’s really super razor-thin, and that’s the most challenging aspect because they’re all good,” Stelly said. “They all deserve to be on the big screen, in my opinion. But we have a task at hand, we have a time limitation, and this is part and parcel of learning what it takes to organize a film fest.”
For Stelly, these tough decisions are made worth it when he sees the pride and excitement these young filmmakers feel during the awards segment. Following the screening, awards are presented for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Sound Design, Best Cinematography, Best Editor, Best Production Design, Best Screenplay and Best Costumes.
“Once you’re actually finished and you start to give out the awards, and you get to witness and feel the audience’s excitement and the smiles on the young filmmakers’ faces and things like that,” Stelly said. “Of course, that’s what it’s all about at the end of the day.”
The annual Take XI Student Film Festival not only provides a space for students to showcase their work, but also helps cultivate the future of the industry as a whole.
“I think what the Take XI Student Film Festival has to offer, and what the Take Festival going forward will offer, is an opportunity to see your work,” Stelly said. “Without an audience, what are you making a film for? Film festivals in the greater ecosystem of independent young filmmakers are important because sometimes that’s the way these films get seen.”
