2014 Tri-Co Film Festival

The 3rd Annual Tri­Co Film Festival was held on May 1, 2014.

Directors: Corey Chao and Hilary Brashear • Jurors: Boone Nguyen and Laura Deutch

Best Experimental Film
Composite_Couch by Pia Chakraverti­Wuerthwein

Most Evocative Film
Vito Acconci’s Pryings (1971/2014) Nishat Hossain by Nishat Hossain

Best Portrait Film
Sam and Goldie by Gebhard Keny (dir. ed.) and Janela Harris (ed.)

Best Essay Film
Marked by Allison Levitan, Caileigh Feldman, and Maya Yu Zhang

Press Release

The 3rd Annual Tri­Co Film Festival was undeterred by massing thunderclouds, as over 130 guests nearly filled the theater at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute last Thursday, May 1st. The audience delivered its own thunder, applauding the 16 bold, recent works by filmmakers from Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges.

This year, the festival was programmed by Tri-­College graduates Corey Chao and Hilary Brashear, who drew from nearly 50 submissions to create the show, organized by three connected themes: “Dialogues & Personal Worlds,” “Change of Character,” and “Internal / External.” The full program is listed below.

After the screening, the festival jurors, Boone Nguyen, media artist and film programmer at Scribe Video Center, and Laura Deutch, collaborative documentary-­maker and Education & Production Coordinator at PhillyCAM, recognized the impressive nature of every selected piece before presenting four awards: “Best Experimental Film” for COMPOSITE_COUCH, by Pia Chakraverti­-Wuerthwein; “Most Evocative Film” for VITO ACCONCI’S PRYINGS (1971/2014) NISHAT HOSSAIN, by Nishat Hossain; “Best Portrait Film” for SAM AND GOLDIE, by Gebherd Keny (dir.) and Janela Harris (ed.); and “Best Essay Film” for MARKED, by Allison Levitan, Caileigh Feldman, and Maya Yu Zhang.

Festival attendees also weighed in: after their ballots were counted, the film MARKED won the Audience Award.

Founded in 2012 by Professor Erica Cho, the Tri-co Film Festival once again demonstrated the high­-quality of experimental, documentary, narrative, animation, and found footage films being produced across the tri­-college community.

The festival was made possible by the generous support of the Film and Media Studies Department of Swarthmore College, the Film Studies Department of Bryn Mawr College, the John B. Hurford ‘60 Center for the Arts and Humanities of Haverford College, and in partnership with the Bryn Mawr Film Institute, Scribe Video Center, PhillyCAM, and International House Philadelphia.

Festival Program

Dialogues & Personal Worlds

• The Blow (dir. Maya Yu Zhang / 3:14 min)
  Two roommates wage an early-­morning feud.
• Damien #1469 (dir. Patrick Hackeling / 8:04 min)
  On death row, Damien debates mental health with his psychiatrist.
• Two Phone Calls (dir. Christine Dickerson & Caleb Eckert / 4:33 min)
  A woman’s phone conversations with her parents explore the nature of attention and memory.
• Composite_Couch (dir. Pia Chakraverti­-Wuerthwein / 1:24 min)
  Fragmented voices and images make multilayered pleas.

Change of Character

• Extracted Enemies (dir. Anna Russell / 9:30 min)
  After a kidnapping, a new relationship unfolds between captor and captive.
• Vito Acconci’s Pryings (1971/2014) Nishat Hossain (7:25 min)
  Drawing from Vito Acconci’s work Pryings, this two­-part performance explores enigmatic action, intimacy, trust, and violence.
• The Dancer (dir. Leyla Yenirce / 5:35 min)
  An unconventional dancer performs everyday movement on an unconventional stage.
• Eating Ice Cream (dir. Maya Yu Zhang, ed. Leyla Yenirce / 1:38 min)
  Heard, seen and tasted, this treat meets our senses.
• Dreaded Tread (cinamat. Gebby Keny, ed. Brandon Kelly / 2:34 min)
  On a winter night, there are sounds of danger.
• Drain (cinamat. Caileigh Feldman, ed. Tirsa Delate / 1:16 min)
  Drama unfolds on the surfaces of a sink.

Internal / External

• Apis Apis Apis (dir. Nora Kerrich / 5:38 min)
  A meditation on the lives and order of bees.
• Count (cinemat. Sarah Moses, ed. Janela Harris / 1:02 min)
  Searching for numbers, we find them everywhere.
• Sam and Goldie (dir., cinemat., ed. Gebby Keny, cinemat. Danny Bedrossian, ed. Janela Harris / 10:59 min)
  An intimate portrayal of the life and love of Sam and Goldie as they struggle with Goldie’s Alzheimer’s.
• M A R K E D (dir., cinemat., ed., Caileigh Feldman, dir., ed. Maya Yu Zhang, dir. Allison Levitan / 6:59 min)
  A woman struggles to navigate conflicting cultural and personal definitions of beauty.
• Birch (dir. Nora Kerrich / 6:25 min)
  Trapped inside a greenhouse, a group finds power in collective feminine practices.
• Booked (dir. Sara Symoczko / 5:49 min)
  Walls crumble as students unpack their experiences inside a Philadelphia women’s prison.