The buzz in the room was one of excitement, anticipation and assured enjoyment. When each film started, segments of the room applauded in self-congratulatory appreciation that came across as more charming than anything else. This night was meant as celebration and that's the tone it held and maintained.
It may be a bold statement to say that the current Salmagundi film festival is one of the highlights of the year for University, but it's true.
Salmagundi, the Film and Media Society's annual film festival, gave local filmmakers a chance to screen their work to the public in the venue of the Newcomb Hall Theatre. Attendees were offered such variety it would be near impossible to not like at least one of these films.
Based on audience response, a true crowd favorite was Brian Davis and Grace Hsiu's "Nolander vs. Lounger" - a film so inspirationally brief and simplistically precise that it's the cinematographic equivalent of a well-crafted Zen haiku.
The conscientious focus upon the visual was perhaps the most strikingly unexpected aspect of Salmagundi. Amateur filmmakers commonly make the basic error of forgetting that film is a visual medium, but that was not the case here. Every entry seemed to have an instinctual understanding of effective narrative, and this is probably the reason these films made the cut and were selected in the first place. FMS received over 35 entries, but screened only 14 films at Salmagundi. The quality was so much higher than that of typical student films.
In fact, Carlos Marulanda's mini-epic "Unicorn" couldn't rightly be called a student film. It was directed, acted, edited and created at such a larger scale than what the term "student film" implies. Nothing could demonstrate this more than the audience's inquisitive silence, wowed by the abilities of the actors and director. It was one of many highlights. Climbing to the apex of possibilities for the Indy short, the showing of "George Lucas in Love" was another highlight.
Lisa Jakub, a Hollywood veteran of such films as "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "Independence Day," appeared at Salmagundi to offer advice to aspiring young directors. She spoke simply, saying, "Get creative, really express yourself and don't be afraid to do something others are not doing. You don't have to conform."
Jakub also spoke of some of her favorite films in Salmagundi.
"I loved '20 Years' by Kyle Gabler," she said. "It was creative and so different, very inventive."
Another of her favorites was Andy Alexander's "Untitled," because she said she "loved the actor, and the basic message as well."
Throughout Salmagundi, directorial influences ranged from "Pi" to "American Pie." Chris Garvey's "The Antidote" was homage to Darren Aronofsky and "SudLuv" offered a nod to Paul Weitz, but both succeeded most when they took their own imaginative twists several steps beyond mere mimicry. What the casts may have lacked in acting talent they more than made up for with sheer love for their project, and the audience responded in kind.
If there had been a categorical breakdown of areas to award along the lines of the Oscars, the standout division would have undoubtedly been in the area of sound. Sound and sound editing played such core roles in all of the narratives that it seemed in several instances to be the true heart of the storytelling. Perhaps a fundraising Salmagundi soundtrack will be in the near future.
At the program's close, the judges - including Richard Herskowitz of the Virginia Film Festival, Temple Fennel of ATO Films and documentary filmmaker Paul Wagner - awarded Laura Lantz's "Signs of Love" first place, but in all honesty, all of the participants were extremely successful.
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