Here's a sneak peek of the award winning films to be screened in the Kodak Showcase on February 2 at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (4:00 - 6:00 pm at the Salle Georges COCHON Theatre). The Showcase features the winning student films from the Worldwide Kodak Film School Cinematography Competition and the winning film from the Golden Tadpole, Plus Camerimage, The International Festival of the Art of Cinematography. The Kodak Film School Cinematography Competition is open to students and recent graduates from around the world. The contest is designed to recognize the creativity and talent of student cinematographers in the collaborative process of visual storytelling. For the third consecutive year, the John Bailey, ASC (The Big Miracle, Ordinary People) judged the entries.

The Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France is one of the premier events for discovering emerging talent in the filmmaking community. Over 3,000 industry professionals will gather to experience the best in short form storytelling. And at the center of the festival, the Short Film Market operates as a hub of activity, where films can be viewed, companies can share news and technologies, and networking opportunities are abundant. It’s an electrifying experience to be part of such a popular festival, where attendance is robust and the passion for the art and craft of filmmaking fills the air.

Here, from January 27 – February 4, Kodak will be hosting several activities for student filmmakers, highlighted by the annual Kodak Showcase on Thursday, February 2, at the Salle Georges CONCHON from 4-6 p.m. (rue Léo Lagrange 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, located near the Kyriad Hotel).

Johanna Gravelle

The Toronto International Film Festival has come and gone for 2011. As I reflect back on the festival, I thought I would share with you some of my TIFF experiences and some of the people I bumped into at the Kodak events.

The week started with the Canadian Film Centre BBQ, an annual events that draws over 2000 people! Kodak sponsors the Kodak Film Industry Pavilion and enjoys snapping photos of our guests during the celebration. While mingling around the Kodak tent, I bumped into Canadian cinematographer Michael Jari Davidson. He was at the BBQ to network with colleagues and to promote a S16mm horror that he is hoping to shoot in the near future. He feels that the esthetics of S16 work really well for a horror film (I couldn’t agree more) and he is determined to get his producer to agree.

Johanna Gravelle

As the manager of the Kodak Scholarship Program, I was fortunate enough this year to be able to screen the films of the top student nominations to the 2011 program, and to listen in on the judging session as the judges passionately debated who should be amongst the final five. All judges – a faculty member, a Kodaker and a veteran industry professional - had their favourites and it was a tough decision to come up with the ultimate winners.

Renowned Cinematographer Robbie Greenberg ASC stated; “The quality of work being done by these students is outstanding. The seriousness and poignancy of the subject matter the students explored was also impressive.” I had to agree with Robbie as I found the stories to be deeply personal and emotionally complex.

Roberto Schaefer, ASC. Photo by Douglas Kirkland

I am very excited to kick off Kodak’s Choices Webinar on Wednesday, April 6. We are thrilled to share the news that cinematographer Roberto Schaefer, ASC will be join on our discussion. Schaefer recently shot the much-anticipated Machine Gun Preacher, due in theatres in September.

I also want to let you know that Matthew Libatique, ASC will unfortunately not be able to join us as planned due to an unforeseen conflict in scheduling.