Attendees of the 2023 Lux Mea Film Festival, organized by Grove City College’s Communication & Visual Arts Department, enjoyed a night of cinematic talent at the red-carpet premiere. The third annual campus event was held in a packed Crawford Auditorium on Saturday, April 29 from 7-9 p.m.
Lux Mea boasted a total of 16 short films created by Grove City College student filmmakers, and 12 awards were given to the winning productions by the end of the event.
A few of the award winners shared their thoughts on the memorable night.
Junior Malachi Abbott, writer and director of the short romance film “When We Were Us,” was grateful to have seen his friends and colleagues take home awards for their hard work and to have gotten the opportunity to share the victory with them.
“When my name was announced, it was a pleasant surprise but also a bit of relief knowing that I was once again blessed to be able to stand on the stage with everyone,” Abbott said.
Junior Megan Eisentraut, who served as the short film’s producer, was glad the audience enjoyed their cinematic creation.
“Seeing our project on the big screen was amazing,” she said. “It felt like the accumulation of everything we were working so hard to accomplish this year. When there was a loud round of applause and everyone loved it, it made all the late nights worth it.”
Both Abbott and Eisentraut thanked their crew for pouring in the time and energy to make the film the best it could be. “When We Were Us” received three awards, including Best Acting Performance by Female Actor to senior Emily Klusendorf, Best Cinematography to junior Luke Owen and Audience Favorite.
Junior Caleb Vinoverski, writer and director of the psychological thriller “Boxed-In,” said he was blessed to watch his film with an audience and honored to have his film judged by film industry professionals – Tyler Hisel, Katherine Oostman and GCC grad Brian Osmond ’88 judged the short film entries this year.
“It is rare to get an opportunity to show your film to a packed theatre, so I truly enjoyed every moment of that experience,” the aspiring filmmaker said. “We make these films for people to be moved by them. That’s the most important thing at the end of the day.”
Vinoverski wanted to thank his parents for their continual support and his crew with whom he was able to collaborate, particularly junior Aaron Phillips who produced, edited and shot principal photography. Their work certainly paid off as “Boxed-In” won two awards – Best Acting Performance by Male Actor to Vinoverski and Best Narrative.
Freshman William Hearn, producer and director of the short documentary “Transformed,” won Best Editing and Best Documentary at the film festival. He especially thanked Professor Gregory Bandy and his peers in the college’s Advanced Video Production class for providing feedback on his film throughout the spring semester.
Though “Transformed” premiered at Lux Mea for only eight minutes, Hearn will soon release the full documentary.
In addition to the seven awards, the other film festival winners included Best Original Score to junior Elliot Eyre for “The Problem of Other Minds,” Best Special/Visual Effects to senior Sarah Sawyers for “You Have Something of Mine,” Best Audio Editing/Mixing to Eyre for “Leech,” Best Super Short to Eyre for “Pizzamurai” and Best Screenplay to Eyre for “The Problem of Other Minds.”
luxmeafilmfestival.com 