Student final film projects to be shown at Schwartz Center May 9

Scenes from Jeffrey Cedeno's "The Cloning Machine," one of seven student films that will be screened May 9 at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts. Courtesy of the Department of Theatre, Film & Dance

Each spring students in Cornell's Advanced Film and Video Projects class show their popular films to sold-out audiences in Willard Straight Hall. This year, for the first time, students will screen their original works in the Kiplinger Theatre of the Cornell Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts. The Kiplinger Theatre boasts a new digital projection system as well as the ability to seat more audience members for the one-evening-only event. The Advanced Film and Video Projects screening will be Friday, May 9, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased through the Schwartz Center box office by calling 254-ARTS or visiting the window in the lobby 12:30-5:30 p.m. weekdays.

"This is a great way to integrate film more fully at the Schwartz Center," said Marilyn Rivchin, senior lecturer in filmmaking. "We're also hoping to draw a bigger and more diverse audience to this popular screening."

The May 9 showing will include seven original films by the nine class members. Shot either on 16mm film or video, all the films are being edited digitally and will be shown by digital video. Six of the seven films are narrative fiction, including the 2003 Mel Shavelson Screenplay Award winner, "A Darker Shade of Dim." This 20-minute film about a dark love trapezoid was written by Daniel Antoniazzi, Ben Shiffrin and Lauren Wells. Other original fiction films being previewed are: Andrew Baldwin's "Pathological," Jeffrey Cedeno's "The Cloning Machine," Lauren Haber's "Keep Me Company," Matt Siegler's "X-Craft Raid" and Henrique Suguri's "The Anniversary." The screening also will feature one documentary film, titled "Royal Southern Tier" by Gaea Denker-Lehrman and Lela Klein. These two women filmmakers delved into the world of drag queens and kings by meeting and befriending local artists and following their lives both on- and offstage.

"These films are all very human and interesting," said Rivchin. "This is the culmination of hours of hard work by our most talented student filmmakers."