All creatives will understand the nervous but excited butterflies that settle into your stomach at the prospect of sharing something into which you’ve put so much time and effort.
For some of Clemson’s world cinema students, the time had come to do just that.
This past Thursday, students and audience members crowded the McKissick Theatre to see a selection of student films. The night featured five narrative films created as part of WCIN 4760 Filmmaking for Mobile Media and 10 documentary-style films from the class’s successor, WCIN 4990.
Sam Sokolow, award-winning film producer and Clemson professor of practice, opened the night with a few words about the value of creating art.
“Stories matter more than ever now, but they matter more than ever always. Stories help shape community and society … all these things are story-driven. Whatever your job is, you need to be a storyteller. Today, you’re going to experience the stories of a really talented, focused group of people.”
He finished by saying, “One of the hardest parts of storytelling is showing it to an audience. All of you here tonight are completing these films.”
The night began with the five narrative short films, which are fictional films that tell a story. These compelling films ran the genre gamut and the timeline. From dead boyfriends to dead old-timey movie stars to revenge killings and stalkers and dead familiars, this night had it all.
After the last narrative film and a brief intermission for guests to grab more complimentary popcorn, the documentary portion of the night began.
All of the documentaries had a connection, in some way, shape or form, to South Carolina and were quite personal to the students who made them.
One centered on the world cinema program at Clemson, interviewing past and present members of the program interspersed with footage from projects created by students in the department.
Multiple others were about student experiences here at Clemson, including what it is like to be a student at Clemson who identifies as queer.
Another revolved around the idea of girlhood and featured interviews with the filmmaker’s mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
Sharbel Feghali, a junior World Cinema major and the director of the film “Piece of Me” about local band Tangerine Scene, shared his thoughts on the night.
“There’s nothing like being surrounded by people just as passionate as you are. The students in World Cinema are so ambitious and so talented, and there is an unmatched spirit of collaboration because all of us want each other to thrive and succeed and make our movies the best they can be.
“It’s so rewarding to work on a film and watch the final product unfold on the big screen.”
When the night was over, and all those involved had received many well-deserved rounds of applause, everyone left with a new appreciation for student-made films and the work done by those in the humanities programs.
