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Two UOG student films win awards among 1,700 entrants
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Posted on Apr 20 2020
Two films written and directed by University of Guam communications students have won awards among 1,750 entries in the Festival of Media Arts by the Broadcast Education Association. The UOG students were among 368 awardees who were recognized and whose videos were available to view at the BEA2020 convention, which took place over the weekend.
The two original screenplays—The Passenger, directed by Stephanie Smith and co-written by Keanno Fausto and Bradley Bartonico, and Left on Read, directed by Fausto and co-written by Kiana Brown and Brandon Cruz—were written for a film criticism course taught by Associate Professor Raymond Anderson and then adapted to film for an independent filmmaking class taught by instructor Kel Muna.
“This is UOG’s first time winning this student award, and to have two get recognized I think is outstanding,” Anderson said.
The festival is an internationally judged exhibition of faculty and student work with entrants this year from more than 300 universities nationwide. The UOG student films both won Awards of Excellence as narrative works.
“It’s surreal to be recognized for your team’s work,” said Fausto, who had a hand in both films. “When we were creating the film, we were not anticipating any recognition or honors at all and simply wanted to tell a meaningful story that we would watch ourselves.”
The Passenger is about a rideshare driver giving a ride to a distraught and mysterious passenger, and Left on Read follows 17-year-old Sirena Perez as she deals with “offline drama while trying to maintain her life online.”
Left on Read has also been awarded locally, winning the “Best Made in the Marianas” award at the Guam International Film Festival in October and two awards at the University of Guam Film Festival last May.
The films are viewable at https://bea2020.secure-platform.com/a. (PR)
