Immigrant child's coming-of-age story wins big at Redstone Film Festival | BU Today

Bob, The low-key film about a Chinese immigrant boy who feels abandoned when his mother tries to enroll him in a boarding school virtually opened BU's 44th Redstone Film Festival on Friday, April 26. It took over. Written and directed by master's screenwriting graduate student Tian Yu Du (COM'24), short films won most of the Best Picture and Technical Awards.

“This is an opportunity for us to showcase our students,” said Paul Schneider, COM professor of film and television and department chair, at the beginning of the event.

The judging panel and award ceremony, which will be held at the Tsai Performance Center with a red carpet, is billed as a “first screening of tomorrow's top talent.'' The audience, filled with filmmakers, staff and classmates (some in suits and evening gowns), faculty and family members, cheered on the nominated films.

The festival featured original films by COM's film and television students. First, second, and third place awards were awarded to the film, along with several other awards, from Best Screenplay to Best Sound Design. The award is sponsored by Canon and the Sumner M. Redstone Charitable Foundation, founded by the late Boston native and billionaire media mogul Sumner M. Redstone (Hon.'94). Prizes included a Canon camera kit, an iPad, and cash to help finance the filmmaker's next project.

This year's finalists are selected by a committee of production, screenwriting and film department alumni, and finalists are judged by a panel of six film industry experts.

Maura Smith (COM'14), COM's Master Lecturer in Film, was honored to announce the final award of the night. “As many of you know, making a movie is not easy. It takes an incredible amount of effort, hard work, and dedication from the entire cast and crew to make a successful movie that has something to say. We need your cooperation.’ It makes sense,” she said. “I think all the movies we saw here tonight certainly accomplished that.”

In addition to the first place prize, bob It also won awards for Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Production Design, and Best Actor. This is not the first time the short film has won an award, as it took first place in the Best Asian American Student Filmmaker East Region category at the 2023 Directors Guild of America Student Awards.

Dou, like many of the other filmmakers who appeared that night, was unable to attend Friday's ceremony because he is finishing up a semester in his BU Los Angeles program. “I'm going to email her right now and tell her the good news,” said Emily Marr (CAS'23, COM'23), the film's production designer. Today's BU after the event.

2nd place and Best Sound Design lock jaw. Directed by Nina Barresi (COM'23) and produced by CK Anderson (COM'23), this horror film tells the story of a woman who takes part in a weight loss study where her jaw is wired shut and she is forced to eat a liquid diet. When she has had enough, she struggles to break free from the overwhelming pressure of standardized beauty standards.

comedy Notice We won 3rd place. Directed and written by Elisei Kazakevich (COM'25), the film tells the story of a man who decides to rob a bar, but his plan is thwarted by another robbery happening at the same time.

This year's other finalists are: runner's blooda drama about a delusional athlete obsessed with being the best. please forgive me dad, the story of a young priest and an older bishop confessing their sins.and pas de deuxis a thriller about an elite figure skater who is arrested for using performance drugs.

Awards were also given to graduate short films, student-written screenplays, and film and television graduate thesis projects. New this year is the Sumner Redstone Television Pilot Competition honor.

For last year's Redstones, Du won a $5,000 Adrienne Shelly Foundation Screenplay Film Award production grant, which helped launch her filmmaking career. The grant goes to a female director who is a student at COM and was made possible thanks to the Adrienne Shelley Foundation, a producer, writer, actor, and director who was murdered in her New York City apartment in 2016. 87). 2006. She is best known for her movies. waitresswhich later inspired a Broadway musical of the same name.

Marr, Bob's production designer, says she recently learned she had been accepted into the American Film Institute's production design program. bob's production team were all immigrants or first-generation Americans. “I think it was great to work with such a vast and disparately experienced team, and I think it gave the story depth, because each of us had a story to draw from. Because there are,” she said.

Full list of winners:

First place: bobwritten and directed by Tian Yu Du (COM'24) and produced by Jessica Yijie Chen (COM'23).

Second place: lock jawwritten and directed by Nina Barresi (COM'23) and produced by CK Anderson (COM'23).

Third place: Noticewritten and directed by Elisei Kazakevich (COM'25) and produced by Diego Santiago (COM'25)

Best Screenplay Award:

bobwritten by Tian Yu Du (COM'24)

Best Cinematography Award:

bobPhotography: Raphael Edwards (COM'23, CAS'23, Sargent '23)

Best Editing Award:

bobedited by Raphael Edwards (COM'23, CAS'23, Sargent'23) and Tian Yu Du (COM'24)

Best Production Design Award

bobProduction Designer Emily Ma (CAS'23, COM'23)

Best Actor:

Mei Hong, who played Lei Xue (mother) in “. bob

Best Sound Design:

lock jawSound Designer Max Tanzer (COM'23)

Audience Award:

Bob, Written and directed by Tian Yu Du (COM'24) and produced by Jessica Yijie Chen (COM'23).

Alumni Association Short Film Award

chameleon corridor, Produced by David Grober (COM'73), written by Jigar Ganatra

Honorable Mention Short Film for Graduates

Eid Mubarakproduced by Adam Wescott (COM'06) and Mahanolu Youssef, written and directed by Mahnoor Youssef

Film and Television Research Award Innovative Scholarship

This award is given to an outstanding student in the MFA Film and Television Studies program based on a faculty-selected thesis project. The winner is not divided into his 1st place and his 2nd place. Both are recipients.

• Lindsay Gould (COM'24), Disney From Home: The Consumer Spectacle of Disney Episodes
• Shinkai Son (COM'24), Madame Sata: Queer Disidentification and Performance

Fleder-Rosenberg Screenplay Contest

short film

First prize: Siful Dimaquier (COM'24), Fosgelam

2nd place: Ben Locke (COM'25), taper

3rd place: Brian Thompson (COM'23), answer

feature film

First prize: Siful Dimaquier (COM'24), leather beat

2nd place: Alexa Salimpour (COM'23), cherry harvest

3rd place: Lily Hill (COM'24)before the lamb

Sumner Redstone Television Pilot Contest, 30 minutes

First prize: Nell Obitt (COM'23), strange women

2nd place: Olivia Belluc (COM'24), charlotte's book

3rd place: Lydia Evans (COM'25), Withed

sumner redstone tv pilot contest, time

First prize: Robert “Amour” Felton (COM’23); angel wings price

2nd place: Tori Markle (COM'24), sailor

3rd place: Audrey Porter (COM'23), lovely Rita

Adrienne Shelley Foundation Screenplay Award

Daniela Arguedas (COM'25), blueberry