The film students’ annual film showcase will be livestreamed for the first time.
The showcase, called Broken Emmy, is for students of all levels within the film department to share their own work and watch their peers’ films.
This year, with the postponement of in-person classes due to COVID-19, The Broken Emmy festival will be moved to a virtual platform. The showcase is organized by the students in the Intermediate Film Workshop class.
Billy Palumbo, visiting professor in the film and visual art department and instructor of the class, said this year’s Broken Emmy festival will feature films students have been working on for class assignments, as well as a film made by members of The Film Guild and The Shadow Collective. In addition, this year’s screening will include film senior’s capstone projects.
“We thought it was really important to have a way for these seniors to have their incredibly hard work seen and appreciated at the end of this semester, and I think it’ll fit nicely in this end-of-year screening/celebration,” Palumbo said.
Cameron Hawkins, film sophomore, is looking forward to this year’s Broken Emmy screenings.
“The film department is incredibly talented, and I can’t wait to see what everyone shows,” Hawkins said.
Palumbo said he is excited for students to share these projects on the livestream.
“The reason it’ll feel so different this year is that filmmaking is collaborative and film watching is social and communal, and we’ll miss some of the little things about watching in a crowded theater– hearing everyone laugh at the funny parts, feel the shared tension in suspenseful parts, the applause at the end of each, stuff like that,” Palumbo said.
Although students and faculty cannot physically be together during this time, Palumbo said the event brings the department together.
“I’m really glad that we’re keeping the tradition alive even though we’re all separated. It’s a moment of connection and a celebration, and I think we could all use a little bit of that. There will be some nice reminiscing. Students will be seeing projects they made since way back at the beginning of last semester, remembering working behind the scenes with classmates and friends, so we’ll all get to look back at it all,” Palumbo said.
The event will be at 7:30pm (CT) on May 1 and is open to anyone to watch.
The link for the stream will be shared on the department’s Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter accounts, (all at the handle @okcufilm).
“Last year we were standing room only, so if there’s a positive to a virtual screening this year, it’s that everyone can sit comfortably while they watch,” Palumbo said.
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