The University of Blog

(I helped make this– too much work.)

The True/False Film Festival is possibly the most awesome thing that has ever happened in Columbia. It is in its fifth year, but this was the first year that I volunteered. Which means that I could see as many movies that I could. And it has really helped me in deciding what to do career-wise. I saw The Greening of Southie, The Order of Myths, Cat Dancers and Man on Wire. All were so great in different ways because they had such distinct styles.

The Greening of Southie was about a green building project in South Boston. It was interesting because I’ve heard about the green building project, but the film was told through the eyes of the construction workers which brought in a human element to the story. This is from the directors of King Korn. (This was a favorite of my friends from True/False last year.)

Order of Myths was visually sound and the subject matter was intense- how director Margret Brown found that Marti Gras was still segregated was fascinating and unexpected. I really enjoyed Cat Dancers about two ballet dancers and the addition of wild animals (big cats) into their act. How it incorporated archival footage to tell a moving narrative was wonderful. I was engrossed in the story.

And then Man on Wire was so beautifully and creatively done. Just overall amazing. It was fast, bringing in a blend of old footage of training to the actual event. The characters were fascinating. The films that I saw had such distinct styles.

And in seeing these different film styles, I realized that I could do this. Finding a great story and subject matter is vital to telling the story, but I realized that these stories can be told in creative ways. I was getting ideas on framing and especially on how all of these filmmakers interviewed the subjects in their homes. They followed them around and spent time with them. I love this so much. I am so inspired to do something like this. I now want to learn as much as I can to be able to achieve this.