Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts is renowned for its film program, and now current and former students are taking their skills from the classroom to the national film festival scene.

Isobella Antelis, VPA Class of 2018, screened her senior thesis, “Blue Toes,” at the Independent Shorts Awards in Los Angeles, winning platinum for Best LGBT Short and Best Student Short.

Megan Massey, a senior film major, worked alongside co-creator Yixuan (Caroline) Fu, a junior in VPA, on their film, “A Thousand Words Never Said.” Their project was screened at the Milwaukee Short Film Festival last month. “A Thousand Words Never Said” follows a mother-daughter relationship as the daughter prepares to head off to college.

Massey said in an email she drew inspiration for the film from her relationship with her mom.

“I wanted to tell a story with a strong mother-daughter bond,” she said. “I think the moment a teen goes off to college is really scary, and not just for that person, but for their family.”

But Massey said the further along she got in filming, the more the film evolved in the creative process. Massey said that the film evolved from the idea of a mother-daughter bond to a story centered around a mother and her personal struggles.

“It was a mother — someone you expect to have it all together,” Massey said.

Antelis, who in her post-graduation career, is currently working on a movie set, wrote, directed and filmed “Blue Toes.” In a description from her GoFundMe page, Antelis described the film as “a story that fights to break the rules of gender normative behavior between kids.”

The short film centers around a young boy named Mickey whose interests go against typical gender norms. The film shows the audience how destructive society can be for kids who don’t fit into the labeled boxes of their assigned gender.

“It is an important story to tell because we need to allow kids to be who they are, and not constrain them to these unrealistic standards of what it means to be a girl or a boy,” she said in the GoFundMe description.

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Antelis added that the inspiration for it came from having a sibling who feels the same as Mickey does in the film. She said she was inspired by that relationship in her life to create a film centered around a child who doesn’t necessarily “fit” into the sociocultural expectations of their specific gender.

VPA students, both current and alums, have had screenings at festivals across the country, from Los Angeles and Milwaukee to Brooklyn. Vasilios Papaioannu, an assistant teaching professor of film, encourages students to create a press kit and a teaser for every project to prepare them for future festivals.

“It’s not easy because there’s a lot of competition,” Papaioannu said. “We know that if you don’t try, then nothing is going to happen.”

Taking their experiences from the industry back into the classroom, members of VPA’s film department will put their work on display during the 15th annual Syracuse International Film Festival. The event runs from Oct. 10 to Oct. 14, with an opening night fundraiser celebration gala at the Redhouse Arts Center in downtown Syracuse.

Published on October 3, 2018 at 11:45 pm