The March 28-30 event brings students and work of world-renowned film school to VCU’s cinema program and the community.
For 16 years, Virginia Commonwealth University’s French Film Festival has successfully brought together innovations in French and American film. This year, the university plans to further expand this relationship by collaborating with a world-renowned film school.
Impressed by the quality and professionalism of the students at La Fémis (Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Métiers de l’Image et du Son) in Paris, festival founders and directors Peter Kirkpatrick, Ph.D., and Françoise Ravaux-Kirkpatrick, Ph.D., selected a series of six student short films to feature at the 2008 festival, held March 28-30 at Richmond’s historic Byrd Theatre.
“Short films, whether from Fémis or from other directors, have been a tradition at the VCU French Film Festival since the second festival,” said Kirkpatrick, executive director of VCU’s Office of International Education. “Having shorts from the world’s top film school is just another example of the quality of films that the festival brings to Richmond and the relationships the festival has within the French film industry.”
While in Richmond, the La Fémis students will turn their attention to producing four short films with students in VCU’s newly established Bachelor of Arts in Film.
“Since this is our first year as a program, it’s really an honor to work with La Fémis,” said Ian Edwards, a freshman cinema student and a producer of the two short films. “We’re trying to build ourselves up as a program and now we have this on our résumé. I think this is the beginning and a lot of bigger things are coming.”
During production, students from both VCU and La Fémis will collaborate with renowned French director Pierre-William Glenn — who is also the head of the image department at La Fémis — and use professional-grade equipment such as 35 mm film. Prior to the festival, the VCU cinema program will conduct a master class for its undergraduates with Glenn and La Fémis students.
“I trust that this will bring our students, cultures and filmmaking traditions much closer,” said Rob Tregenza, Ph.D., director of cinema at VCU. “It is a great opportunity for our first class to work with their students who have already completed their graduate studies in France. This is a first critical step in putting VCU cinema in the spotlight of worldwide film instruction and international production.”
Edwards said he hopes the relationship with La Fémis will continue to grow and bring high-quality films to VCU’s cinema students and the Richmond community.
“We would like to start a whole cinema culture in Richmond and I think that, hopefully, the master class and the connection with La Fémis will set the spark.”
