Students Paint a Green Picture at Film Festival
VidFest Works Promote Sustainable Lifestyle
Christine Clark | April 28, 2008
Joshua Krohn (left) and Jason Campa (right) tied for first place at this year's Vidfest competition.
UC San Diego students showcased their commitment to the environment and talent for visual arts during the second Earth Week “VidFest” film festival on Wednesday night at the Price Center Theatre. The competition featured 11 original videos by undergraduate students. The short pieces differed in style, but all were created specifically for the competition to increase awareness about the environment.
The filmmakers competed for over $3,000 in cash prizes and winners also received a copy of Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax” autographed by Audrey Geisel. In addition, Leonardo DiCaprio donated copies of the documentary “11th Hour” to the winners and sent a statement commending the student filmmakers for their dedication to the arts and the environment.
Jason Campa and Joshua Krohn shared top honors at the film festival and won $1,000 each for their efforts. Krohn’s “Footprint” was built as a narrative in reverse that showed how the ‘footprint’ of littering causes damage to the environment. Krohn also won the Muir College “Choose to Change” award; his film was screened at the Honorary Muir Luncheon on Thursday.
A video still from Joshua Krohn's "Footprint".
Campa’s “A Solar Solution” featured interviews with various community members about finding renewable energy solutions, and explained how Southern California can lead the way in solar energy applications. Campa said it took him about a week to complete the project. He added he was thrilled he participated in the film festival. “I submitted a film last year,” he said,” so I had a better idea of what to do this year.”
“The Clear Picture” and “Conserving our Future” took second and third place respectively. Both films aimed to educate students and the campus community about how to lead a more sustainable lifestyle. “The Clear Picture,” produced by Adam Alegria, Sonia Hidalgo and Christian Vazquez, demonstrated how students could recycle bottles and cans after parties to turn their trash into cash.
Home Intl President Reena Horowitz (right) and Home Intl Treasurer Molly Jaeger-Begent (left) present honorable mention award to Brady Pacleb (center).
In “Conserving for Our Future” the directors, Elizabeth Hood and Ryan Willis, explained how the university can conserve energy by installing lights with sensors all around campus.
Honorable mention went to Brady Pacleb’s “Gary and Larry Explain Environmentalism,” a video-game-inspired animated film that used comedy to convey how expansion threatens rare species.
VidFest was co-sponsored by UC San Diego’s Environment and Sustainability Initiative and supported by Home International, an environmental organization that sponsors green film screenings and other events to promote sustainability. Home International judged the videos and donated prizes to the winners. The organization’s Chairman, Joe Vecchio, presented the awards to the student filmmakers and spoke about how the documentary film “An Inconvenient Truth” inspired him to support student filmmakers. “I was amazed by that film and the power of filmmaking,” Vecchio said.
VidFest organizer Kristin Blackler said she was very impressed with the caliber of the films submitted this year. “We had a diverse set of films,” she said. “The students took a very creative approach to communicating issues about the environment and I can’t wait to see what kind of films we get next year.”
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Watch videos from this year's Vidfest winners:
