First Take showcases talent from Fanshawe Filmmaking
On Saturday Night April 27th the Fanshawe's Advanced Filmmaking First Take Film Festival took place at Wolfe Performance Hall in London. The festival is a collaboration between Fanshawe College and the Advanced Filmmaking Program, who together are very proud to present the festival which showcases the students of the Advance Filmmaking course. The course is offered at Fanshawe College and is a hands-on, one-year Graduate Certificate Program that will build upon the film student’s theoretical and creative knowledge, and introduce them to a wide range of possibilities when working as a part of a filmmaking crew.
Those that attend the course are guided through the stages of production in documentary and narrative filmmaking; and produce films with their classmates, as well as with students from Fanshawe’s Theatre Arts, Audio Post-Production and Visual Effects & Editing programs. Students gain a strong understanding of the Canadian film industry and have the option of taking on an internship with one of the many industry partners. Industry-experienced faculty and guest lectures from visiting filmmakers give the students an inside look at the industry, and what it takes to succeed.
Earlier this year the iFilmGroup co-Founders of Don Hickey and Matthew Marshall had a chance to attend Fanshawe College and be one of the guest lectures for a Film and TV class. Marshall spoke about independent film making, film festivals and about iFilmGroup.
This year-end film festival is an annual event that premieres some of the best work from that year's Advanced Filmmaking Program (AFM) class. The AFM students each direct a film of their own, and work on other students’ films in roles such as producer, script/continuity supervisor and assistant director. Students in Fanshawe’s Theatre Arts program are actors in many of the films. Audio Post-Production (APP) students work on the films from the Audio perspective. The APP students also added music and sound effects and fixed audio issues in the final cuts of the film. Some students even composed original music for the films.
Several faces who have worked with the iFilmGroup were associated with the festival in various capacities. Johnson Olowofela who was one of the festival directors and who was a student in the Advanced Filmmaking had several films he was a part of. The one he directed was called “FlippiNg the Paige” and featured a familiar acting face in Ian Smith. Olowofela worked with Marshall on Blue Love both as an actor playing a police officer and as crew for the film as well. While Ian Smith has worked with the team on various films. He was part of the crew on Struggles within and played a role in Marshall's film “Malicious Attack about Bullying. Olowefela also was part of several other films as crew at the festival including; Forest Noise, Pressure, and Tim’s Got The House For The Weekend.
Another face familiar with iFilmGroup was Amy Curtis who acted in a couple of films. Curtis was I the first year Theatre Arts program this year and finished the year off with starring in one of the Advance Filmmaking students' films. The film was called “Capital i”. In fact, Curtis earned herself the Best Performance Award for the role at the festival.
Marshall had the privilege of attending the festival and found the films very interesting and felt it showcased the talent that London has within the film making community. With the conclusion of the festival, it put a wrap on the school year for the students of the various programs. Some will be back for additional years in their programs while the Advance Filmmaking students will have graduated and now go on to work in the film production industry.
iFilmGroup.org Press Release - Advanced Filmmaking First Take Film Festival 2019 - AFFTFF - 04-19