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'Left Behind' big winner at the 2018 5 Minute Film Festival

University Communication & Marketing | 

“Left Behind” was the big winner at the fifth annual 5 Minute Film Festival March 27, taking home five awards, including the $1,000 Grand Prize and the Audience Award for Best Narrative.

55FF_4The 5 Minute Film Festival is presented by the School of Theatre and Cinematic Arts in Lipscomb’s George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts and sponsored by Canon. All films submitted have a maximum running time of five minutes and are produced by Lipscomb University students.

A comedy about the challenges of being left-handed in a right-handed world, “Left Behind” was directed by Clay Mortensen and produced by Codie Jay, who also took home the awards for best actress and best screenplay. D.P. Andrew Chandler was honored for Best Cinematography.

“Portrait of a Portrait Artist,” a profile of Nashville-based artist Michael Shane Neal, won four awards, including Best Documentary and the Audience Award. Director Siena DeMatteis also took home the prize for Best Sound Design, and the film’s composer Jacalyn Thompson won for Best Music Score.

55FF_3The prize for Best Music Video went to Matt Huesmann for directing country duo Two Story Road’s “Cliffhanger.” Mika Matin won the Music Video Audience Award for “Numb,” a track that’s currently climbing the charts for recording artist Carlos Vara.

Other winners included Best Actor Scott Patrick Wilson for “Eroder” and best Poster Design winner Meg Stafford for “Lou.”

Two new prizes were awarded this year: “Occupational Hazard” won the award for Best Narrative Short by a non-film major, and “The Three Act Structure” won for Best Narrative Short by a Lipscomb Academy student.

COMPLETE LIST OF NOMINEES WITH WINNERS IN BOLD:

NARRATIVE: Angel Inc.  directed by Jack Lawrence; Éroder  directed by John Theo; TIE for 3rd PRIZE: EER  directed by Sophia Lauer; GRAND PRIZE WINNER + AUDIENCE AWARD: Left Behind  directed by Clay Mortensen / produced by Codie Jay; TIE for 3rd PRIZE: My Odd Addiction  directed by Meagan Ruddock, Sumner McMurtry and Riley Buck / produced by Meagan Ruddock; 2nd PRIZE: Silent Night  directed by Sumner McMurtry; Stick directed by Amy Peabody

DOCUMENTARY: 3rd PRIZE: Hacer Discípulos [Making Disciples] directed by Katie Bianchini; 2nd PRIZE: Lou directed by Mika Matin; Margaret’s Story directed by Natalie Slone; Meant Two Be directed by Brooklyn Chalfant; 1st PRIZE + AUDIENCE AWARD: Portrait of a Portrait Artist directed by Siena DeMatteis

55FF_2MUSIC VIDEO: 1st PRIZE: Cliffhanger [Two Story Road] directed by Matt Huesmann; Frostbit [Riley Buck] directed by Monterey Britzmann; 3rd PRIZE: Ghost [Augustus Carroll directed by Siena DeMatteis; IAPGTBA [Caleb Kuhlmann] directed by Ai Kojima; 2nd PRIZE + AUDIENCE AWARD: Numb [Carlos Vara] directed by Mika Matin; Unfall [Julia Gomez] directed by Jordan Brumbelow

BEST NARRATIVE FILM BY LIPSCOMB ACADEMY STUDENT: Looking for It  directed by Luc Cantrell / produced by Reese Gentry; The Three Act Structure directed by Dylan King; This Is Not Love directed by Hannah Foy; Tommy’s Hardware Store directed by Will Smitherman

BEST NARRATIVE FILM BY NON-FILM MAJOR: Breakdown directed by Noah Bassett; Occupational Hazard  directed by Brooklyn Thompson

BEST ACTOR: Kwame Marah (Left Behind); Kwame Marah (Swipe); Sanders McMurtry (Silent Night); James David West (Polyrhythmia); Scott Patrick Wilson (Éroder)

BEST ACTRESS: Clara Brown (Polyrhythmia); Riley Buck (My Odd Addiction); Codie Jay (Left Behind); Krystal Nichols (Mercy); Sydney Tooley (Interrogation Room)

2018 THEATRE MVPs: Brooke Bethel, Morgan Bowling, Maya Denning, J.T. Friend, Sam Kell, Jonathan Killebrew, Bekah Stogner

BEST SCREENPLAY: Robbie Ballew (Polyrhythmia); Codie Jay (Left Behind); Jack Lawrence (Angel Inc.); Sumner McMurtry (Silent Night); Aaron Reid (My Odd Addiction)

55FF_1BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Andrew Chandler (Left Behind), Siena DeMatteis (Portrait of a Portrait Artist), Claire Foth  (ERR), Matt Huesmann (Cliffhanger), Mika Matin (Numb)

BEST SOUND DESIGN: Andrew Chandler & Clay Mortensen (Left Behind); Siena DeMatteis (Portrait of a Portrait Artist); Sumner McMurtry (Silent Night); Katie Bianchini (Hacer Discípulos)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (BY A LIPSCOMB STUDENT): Robbie Ballew (Polyrhythmia); Daron L. Dixon (Pray Without Ceasing); Kwame Marah (Éroder); Kwame Marah (Swipe); Jacalyn Thompson (Portrait of a Portrait Artist)

BEST POSTER DESIGN: TIE for 2nd PRIZE: Katie Bianchini (Hacer Discípulos); TIE for 2nd PRIZE: Shadani Fleming (Left Behind); TIE for 3rd PRIZE: Amanda Gaudette (Margaret’s Story); TIE for 3rd PRIZE: Ian McGregory (Silent Night); 1st PRIZE: Meg Stafford (Lou)

—Photos by Shelby M'Lynn Photography