'Flo' wins at WSU film festival

The annual Weber State University Student Film Festival was held Friday night at the WSU Davis campus. More than a hundred people attented and watched the films created by WSU students. A classroom in Davis campus was decorated with balloons, and normal movie-theater fare like popcorn and drinks were available. To start the night off, event host Lee Naylor introduced a preview of the documentary film, "Uintah United." WSU geography student Issac Goeckeritz created the film, and it will be shown at the Egyptian Theater this Friday. Five films were submitted in last year's competition, and this year, six students submitted seven films. "It's almost the end of the semester," said Naylor, the director of activities on the WSU Student Council. "Maybe it's just good to have a student look at creativity, and look at what other students can do; and just get their mind from homework and schoolwork." Each film in this festival had a variety of themes, including a music video, a collection of photographs and some dramatic pieces. A music video of a local band was taken in beside the WSU duck pond and dormitory. Also included were a Kung-Fu comedy, a photographic film showing the contrast of the colors of nature and a unique scary movie for children. Bryan Drimmelen, WSU general education junior, said he enjoyed the fact that most of the locations in the films were taken at local areas, and was impressed by the creativeness of students. "Those films were very impressive for me," Drimmelen said. "I really liked all of them. My favorite one was 'Flo.'" WSU communications senior Benjamin Taylor created "Flo - The Ghost of Ogden City." Taylor has submitted to the competition every year since its creation three years ago, and he took first place this year. His film was based on the legend of the ghost in the Ogden Cemetery. Taylor completed shooting the film in October, but he waited to release it until this competition. "It's an exciting to get recognition for the project," Taylor said. "Finally I won the competition. To get everybody together to help me out was kind of challenging." The Davis Campus Student Council judged all the films about a week prior to the event. As the festival closed, the winners were awarded their prizes. Benjamin Taylor received a $100 gift card for first place.