Black Warrior Film Festival showcases work by young filmmakers

At 11, Steven Allan Spielberg shot his debut flick, "The Last Train Wreck," clashing toy Lionel cars together. George Orson Welles was 17 in 1933 when he filmed his staged production of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night." In 1959, Martin Charles Scorsese was all of 17 while shooting his short film "Vesuvius VI," a Roman epic inspired by the TV detective show "77 Sunset Strip."

Every filmmaker obviously starts somewhere, not necessarily in teen or pre-teen years. On the roster for this weekend's eighth annual Black Warrior Film Festival could be the next big thing, selections chosen from rising film artists.

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Kailey New, director of the University of Alabama's Black Warrior Film Institute for 2022, shot her first movie in fourth grade, "... before I even knew what short films were," she said. "But we don't talk about that.

"It was about a mad scientist who had to create this cure to turn a statue back into a person. I made copies for my family. ...They keep threatening to play it."

What viewers may see this weekend are 38 selected entries, including 13 from UA students such as New, a senior from Fort Payne majoring in creative media with a minor in creative writing. There will also be workshops and awards, in a combination of in-person and virtual events.

Though still young in her career, New has already won an Emmy, with her co-workers at the Center for Public Television, for the mini-documentary "Visual Vernacular."

She had been routed into gifted programs early on, including Fort Payne Middle School's iTech team, which a teacher urged her toward.

"I have no clue what this is, I have no interest in it," she said, recalling conversations that went on for weeks. Eventually, she succumbed to her educator's pressure, and began learning video-making. Entering high school, New saw some of her former iTech team members running around campus with cameras.

"In their freshman year, they'd started a TV channel," she said. By sophomore year, she'd learned how to film commercial shorts, earning an editing certificate in Adobe Premiere Pro.

"That's when I finally learned this is something you can do for a career," she said.

Wanting to stay in-state for college, she narrowed it down to UA or Jacksonville State University, which has a newer media program.

"We came here and loved the campus, the Digital Media Center," a 40,000-square foot teaching lab in the north end zone of Bryant-Denny Stadium, home to the Center for Public Television and Radio, Alabama Public Radio, WVUA 23, and Crimson Tide Productions, the athletic department's media arm.

"Mike Royer (a veteran broadcaster, managing editor of WVUA 23) said he loved my work. 'We'd hire you right now,' " she said. "Dad said 'We're not even going to JSU.' Bama was already my No. 1 choice."

As a freshman, she heard others talking about the Black Warrior Film Festival, which began in 2013 after a group of undergrads attending Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival, the largest such event in the U.S., drew inspiration to bring the indie-film feel back to the Druid City.

The first Black Warrior Film Festival formed under the aegis of incubator Creative Campus, which also kicked off one of Tuscaloosa's favorite spring weekends, the Druid City Arts Festival, which this year is scheduled for May 20-21 in Government Plaza.

New began with the programming committee, worked her way up to programming director, and this, her senior year, to the top position. She credits her co-workers, and UA faculty, such as Maya Champion, for guiding the festival to fruition.

"(Champion) teaches everything from writing to directing, so she knows every short film that goes through this place," New said. "She helps us out in so many ways.... It's a program where creativity can run free, and there's not really any way you can control that. It's crucial to have the right professors there to support the students."

Though hosted at UA, the festival invites submissions from colleges all around the country, and for 2022, the number of outside submissions outnumbered those from within the Capstone. In addition to New, UA students screening work this weekend include Andrew Rutledge, Lauren Brock, Maya Browning, Trevor Henry, Catherine Peinhardt, Ross Thrash, Kristin Johns, John Hanninen, Maytreecia Harriell, Lily Prater, Nolan McKinney and Emilia Stuart.

Taking lessons learned from last year's pandemic-enforced virtual event, which included drive-in screenings, this weekend will include both virtual and in-person activities.

All events are free. To learn more, see the site at www.blackwarriorfilmfest.com.

Here's the schedule:

FRIDAY

(VIRTUAL)

11:30 a.m.: State of the Industry: Producing

12:50 p.m.: State of the Industry: Casting

2:10: The Importance of Diversity, On and Off Camera

3:30: An Evening with Phyllis Nagy. Nagy is a theater and film director, screenwriter and playwright, Emmy nominee for her 2005 debut film "Mrs. Harris," and Academy Award-nominee for her 2015 screenplay for "Carol," featuring Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Sarah Paulson and Kyle Chandler.

SATURDAY

(VIRTUAL)

10 a.m.: State of the Industry: Film Festivals

11:20: Alumni in the Industry

(IN-PERSON, Ferguson Theatre in the UA Student Center)

3 p.m.: Experimental film block

4: Comedy

5:20: Horror

6:35: Capstone

SUNDAY

(IN-PERSON, Ferguson Theatre)

1 p.m.: Documentary

2: Drama

3: Holle (Submissions up for a $10,000 Holle Award)

(VIRTUAL)

7: Award Ceremony.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Black Warrior Film Festival showcases work by young filmmakers