The 38th Annual Redstones
by Ashley Griffin
Photography by Ashley Griffin
At the 38th annual film awards ceremony, The Redstones, 471 audience members celebrated the hard work of BU students, graduates and affiliates by enjoying a screening of short films by BU’s Film & Television department.
“Tonight’s an opportunity to carry on a tradition, to get a first-look at the work of a number of talented students who I am confident will go on to make their mark in the profession,” said Professor Paul Schneider, Chair of the Department of Film & Television.
The program gives students who are studying Film & Television the opportunity to work on a real film crew.
Attendee Jose Alberto Orive (COM ’20) worked on a thesis film called Julien about a girl who was being abused by her boyfriend.
“I worked on one of the thesis films, but it’s not finished yet,” said Orive. “The people I work with didn’t treat me like I didn’t know what I was doing just because I’m a freshman or anything like that.”
The award for Best Film overall went to Emily Sheehan’s Borderline, a film about a paramedic struggling to deal with her mother’s drug abuse. Second place went to Wes Palmer’s Pick Your Own, which showed the story of a young girl slowly accepting her dad’s new girlfriend into their family. Third place went to Josh Jason’s Lipstick Stains, which featured a teenage boy coming to terms with his grandmother’s peaceful death.
Sherifat Bakare, a graduate student in the School of Public Health, wished to see different results in the reward lineup.
“There was not a film I liked except, like, one or two,” said Bakare. “Pick Your Own was my favorite. I’m sad that it didn’t win first place.”
Some other awards given were: Best Sound Design, which went to Borderline; Best Editing, which went to both Borderline and Pick Your Own; Best Image, which went to Borderline; and Best Screenplay, which went to Pick Your Own.
“I disagree with some of the awards,” said Orive. “I thought Borderline shouldn’t have won either of its awards, personally. I don’t think it’s bad. I liked it, but I thought that there were more deserving pictures.”
Some students like Bakare have attended the Redstones in previous years and decided to return to this year’s event because they enjoyed last years so much.
“I like watching films, and I went to the Redstones last year and I really enjoyed it,” said Bakare. “I just feel like I can make movies, too, now.”
When watching the films on screen, it may seem like a simple feat to create one. However, Orive shares that, in reality, so much goes on behind the scenes. This makes creating a film very challenging in terms of the amount of time and people it takes to get a film off of paper and onto the screen.
The Redstones exist to honor the hard work that goes into all of these short films and to award students for their hard work.
“Film making is, I think, kind of the pinnacle of imagination,” said Professor Geoff Poister, The Redstones Faculty Director. “What I would like to do now is celebrate what happens when we put all of that hard work into taking our imagination and putting it into something that everybody can share. It’s a wonderful thing.”