CapU students shine in summer film festival season
The film Emily, directed by film student Spencer Zimmerman, began as a school project and was shown at the Regina International Film Festival earlier this month.
Spencer Zimmerman knows he is on the right path. The third-year Film student in the School of Motion Picture Arts (MOPA) just debuted his film Emily in his hometown at the Regina International Film Festival.
“It’s been really cool to come back home with the film and not only represent Saskatchewan, but to represent Capilano University. I feel very fortunate,” says Zimmerman. “This entire experience has been really encouraging, having people appreciate the work and effort.”
Emily began for Zimmerman in 2018 as a student project. “It took a lot of late nights and early mornings to get to where it is. I knew pretty early on I wanted it to be bigger than just a class project.”
The film, which focuses on domestic violence, is getting noticed. Sofia House, a Regina based domestic violence shelter, threw its support behind the film that tries to educate audiences about abuse.
Kate Neufeld from Sofia House told CTV News: “Not only are we opening up a conversation of something that affects a lot of people, it's a conversation that's also going to have facts and information so that other people can go and learn some more about it in ways that are effective.”
Zimmerman gives credit to the faculty at MOPA, in particular David Hauka, Patti Poskitt and Lewis Bennett, for their guidance at every step along the way.
Looking ahead, he is excited to get back to campus and return to a creative workspace. “The facilities and opportunities at CapU, I think, are some of the best in western Canada. We’re really fortunate to have access to them.”
Other recent highlights from MOPA include film student Justin Bromley’s Gold Award for Best Student Director for his film Isolation at the IMDB Los Angeles Independent Short Awards in July. And instructor David Brisbin did the production design on Scary Stories In The Dark, co-produced by Guillermo del Toro, Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, which is in theatres now.
Submitted by: Linda Munro