Tune in to watch Mad Royal Film Society’s third-annual film festival, celebrating up-and-coming student filmmakers and free to all audiences! The Fest will consist of a dynamic variety of bit-sized (1-12 minute) shorts made within the last year under restrictions of the pandemic. Films will be judged by esteemed OSU staff representing relevant fields in the arts and awarded at the end of the program. Mad Royal Film Festival will digitally premiere via YouTube on April 2nd at 7 PM. It will be screened on Mad Royal Film Society’s channel and run for approximately an hour and thirty minutes.
Program Line-up!
This year we had an unprecedented amount of submissions, with a total of 26 films showing this year!
Like A Kid Again (2:48) Veronica Cook “Created entirely during the first weeks of quarantine, Like A Kid Again is an experimental short that explores the concept of time, and our perception of it, while growing up.”
WINNER – Best Editing – Did I Hear What? Ep.1: A Cosmic Intro (10:50) Jake Metzger “A wiseman once said a rock band is only as good as its origin story. Or maybe I’m remembering that wrong.”
President Puppet (3:22) 8th Floor Improv “This is a movie about believing in yourself and improper fractions.”
cold brew (0:28) Sarah Dooling “A young witch brings together a myriad of tasty ingredients to brew up an essential potion. Story, design, and animation by Sarah Dooling.”
Through the Eyes of a Filmmaker (3:44) Mary Wheeler “An experimental film about the carelessness of the movie industry and sometimes the artist.”
Gender Manifesto (2:03) Courtney Barger “An exploration of gender through the format of a video collage and diary. This short film takes inspiration from the likes of Simone de Beauvoir, Judith Butler and Sadie Benning.”
WINNER – Best Short Film – Este-Cate (4:55) Arvcúken Noquisi “Wenaketv: to live. The violent destruction of Indigenous bodies is embedded in the historical canon of the moving image. Film enforces the invisibility of Indigenous peoples, comforting white audiences with colonial fantasies that deny Native autonomy and our continued existence.”
Bounce (8:42) Will & David O’Neil “Upon returning to his childhood home, a college student begins to hear a persistent noise that forces him to confront a long-repressed trauma.”
WINNER – Best Performance – Only One Left (1:10) Gibson Davis “Four friends battle for the last chip from a bag of Doritos.”
Descent (2:33) Bilal Khan “In the dead of space, a derelict ship orbits the planet Mars. With the crew mysteriously vanished, something can be heard lurking in the dark.”
Terminal Decline (8:00) Jake and Chad Ressler & Isaac Lieber “Written and Directed by Jake and Chad Ressler Terminal Decline tells the story of a man played by Isaac Lieber who is given a grave diagnosis and must ponder what to do with his last day on Earth.”
So This Is Love (1:49) Jesse Lung “A couple goes to a park together to take pictures. As they capture moments in time together, they cherish each other’s company.”
WINNER – Audience Choice Award – TXT (0:37) Sari Applefeld “Of all the anxiety inducing troubles of the world, nothing gets your heart palpitating faster than THAT text. Made at home during the first week of lock down, this 2D animated short tells the common fable of a girl and an unannounced booty call before bed.”
WINNER – Best Editing – Dis-Illusioned (0:46) Jessica Sunderhaft
– [just like that] (3:25) Bryan Houlihan-Johnson “An exploration of existentialism through the iconography of the films and media that have shaped and comforted me.” Nominated for Best Short Film, Best Editing, and Runner-Up for Audience Choice Award.
INTERMISSION (5:00): Animation Club | Video Essay Club | Dept of Theatre & Media Arts | Ohio Shorts | Female Gaze Screening Club | Fishbowl Improv | A Real Murder (That Actually Happened) Trailer | Join Mad Royal Flyer!
WINNER – Best Screenplay AND Best Micro Film – The Calculator (1:19) Marcy Paredes “After waking up from a nightmare, a girl reflects on her eating disorder and her newfound recovery.”
Rob’s Daylilies (7:56) Mikayla Eckenrod “Robert Eckenrod has been devoted to his daylily garden for over 20 years. Through the years, he has cultivated a beautiful garden that has garnered media attention and buyer’s interest. Every summer, he spends hours outside taking pictures of his flowers for his own amusement. This is a tribute to his hard work. Shot entirely on my iPhone 11 without him knowing I was shooting a video in the summer of 2020.”
Next Stop (1:57) Kayla Lehman “Next Stop is a short film about making connections in unlikely places and how we have more similarities with others than we might think.”
Undertow (6:20) Emily Miller “A beloved cooking show host struggles to escape the grasp of a frightening encounter.”
What is a Woman (1:03) Laura Duplessis “This short film is about what it means to be comfortable in your own skin.”
Five of Cups, Upright Reversed (5:14) Jackie Brady “A dialogue with the past.”
WINNER – Best Production Design – Waves (2:55) Celia Andrews “A teenage girl struggles with waves of depression and contemplates letting them sweep her away.”
Hand (1:00) Emma Dixon “Hand is a short, experimental piece that explores a colorful materiality surrounding a face, some hands, and many layers. It provides an experience that is welcoming to all through an undefinable space.”
Home (3:26) Stefan Sholtis “A story about the interruption of a family’s routine as their two sons leave home for college.”
WINNER – Best Cinematography – My Grandpa is a Painter (8:55) Jeremy Schwochow “A self-reflexive documentary about the filmmaker’s grandpa and his life’s work, fixing and painting cars. Meditating on what it means to love your work.” Nominated for Best Screenplay and Runner-Up for Audience Choice Award.
WINNER – Best Production Design – Love. (3:14) Maya Neyman “During these dark and difficult times, I hoped to create a project that connects us even when we cannot physically be together. Using voice memos from people across the world in quarantine, this film explores the definition of love and reminisces on the simpler times.” Runner-Up for Audience Choice Award.
Awards ceremony will immediately follow the program! Judged by esteemed OSU faculty in the following categories: Best Short, Best Performance, Best Sound Design, Best Cinematography, Best Micro Film, Best Production Design and Best Screenplay.
Mad Royal Film Society 