JSU graduates featured during film festival

De’Arbreya Lee
Staff Writer

The celebration of International Week at Jackson State University wouldn’t be the same without diverse foods, cultural exposure and of course, entertainment!

This year, International Week Film Festival featured several films varying from drama, love and psychological mysteries.  These films, shot in Turkey, Iran, Russia and the United States will be shown in the theater of the Student Center until April 8th.

One of the films featured was “Perception”, written by 2010 JSU graduate Charli Holbrook. The film was selected to compete in the 12th Annual Crossroads Film Festival.

Holbrook, now a graduate student at Howard University, shot her film in Washington, D.C.

Another film featured on Tuesday was “Black Love.” The documentary, written by Jimmy Lee, a 2005 JSU graduate marketing major, takes a look into African-American relationships with the sharing of different experiences of the cast.

The hosts of the event, Sunny Fridge, Clinical Assistant Professor of Mass Communications and Noel Didla,  English and modern foreign language instructor, conducted interviews by phone or during personal appearances with the film makers.

Lee, along with some of the cast members of “Black Love” were present during the viewing of his film and warned the audience that the accounts were very honest and truthful.

Britney Davis, a senior mass communications major from Oakland, Calif., said that she enjoyed the film.
“I thought it was raw, blunt, and relatable,” said Davis.

Davis also said that she liked the responses to the questions that were asked in the film.

“The questions were interesting and they gave different perspectives on issues in ways that I never thought of before,” said Davis.
Fridge, who has been participating in this event for four years, explained the purpose of the festival.

“Our goal for the film festival is to offer an opportunity to get films shown that show diversity,” said Fridge.

“We want to expose the audience to the makers of the film to make the film real to the viewers, making the film more interesting,” she added.

Fridge stated the entries for the film festival are open to students all majors, high school students and members of the community.
Other films featured included: “White Meadows” by Mohammad Rasoulof; “Inspite of It All”, “Pathfinders to Legacy” and “Through My Brother’s Eyes” all by Wilma E. M. Clopton; “Street Days,” by Levan Koguashvili; “Babum Ve Oglum” by Cagan Irmak and “Smokes and Ears,” by Joe York.