Written by Zach “One Page to Go” Dalton
As the semester came to an end, the Screen Studies and Media Arts of Roanoke College held their 5th Annual Basically Tarantino Film Festival. Filmmakers eagerly made their films for the contest in hopes to make up for its surprise cancellation last year due to COVID-19. In the end, this year’s festival saw a total of six films submitted, which tied for second-most number of films submitted.
The festival is split into two parts: the first is a Ballroom Premiere in the Colket Center and a week later is a premiere at the Grandin Theatre, allowing the films’ creators to see their work on the big screen! While the Ballroom Premiere was not nearly as packed as previous years, the crowds at both showings enjoyed the films immensely. There was a large variety of content across the six films. They were split into roughly two categories: Drama and Comedy, with three in each respective category.
The dramas included: “In Her Echoes” by Joyelle Ronan (five nominations), “Paracosm” by Alexis Samuels (four nominations), and “Until It’s Not” by Kaillee Philleo (four nominations). The comedies consisted of: “Graduation Schmaduation (Shmaduation (Smaduation))” by Zach Dalton (seven nominations), “Job Interview” by Andrew Deel (three nominations), and “Stace Spation” by Smeter Pith (three nominations). Each of the films along with their nominations can be found on MaroonTube under the Basically Tarantino 2021 playlist.
Along with seeing their films on the big screen, the filmmakers also attended an awards ceremony held right after the screening. There were nine award categories: Best Use of Required Line, Best Use of Required Prop, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Drama, Best Comedy and Audience Choice. All the “Best” categories were decided by a panel of judges consisting of Screen Studies professors, Roanoke College faculty and Grandin Theatre personnel. Audience Choice was voted on at the Ballroom Premiere by those in attendance. The following are the results from the Grandin Premiere:
Best Use of Required Line: “Paracosm” by Alexis Samuels
Best Use of Required Prop: “Graduation Schmaduation” by Zach Dalton
Best Actor: Zach Dalton in “Graduation Schmaduation”
Best Actress: Tess Weidenkopf in “Paracosm”
Best Screenplay: “Job Interview” by Andrew Deel
Best Director: Joyelle Ronan in “In Her Echoes”
Best Drama: “In Her Echoes” by Joyelle Ronan
Best Comedy: “Stace Spation” by Peter Smith
For the first time in its five years the Basically Tarantino Film Festival witnessed a three-way tie for Audience Choice between “In Her Echoes” by Joyelle Ronan, “Graduation Schmaduation” by Zach Dalton and my personal favorite: “Until It’s Not” by Kaillee Philleo.
Thank you to the filmmakers, judges, CAB, the Grandin Theatre and Senn Boswell for making this festival possible. I would also like to extend the sincerest of thank you’s to the man who made it all possible: Joe Boucher. Without his passion and his love of student filmmaking the festival would not be where it is today, so once again from everyone involved: Thank You Joe…we love you!
