From the annual Athens International Film and Video Festival to various film clubs on campus, students interested in creating films have various avenues to showcase their talents.
For some Ohio University students, like Andrew Bowman, a sophomore studying film production, this can help them create a unique identity.
Bowman discovered a passion for movies after watching Taika Waititi’s “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” in 2016. Bowman said while he likes creating everything, he feels most inspired to tell compelling stories with unique visual and auditory elements.
“I feel like the first thing I always think about with making a film is striking imagery,” Bowman said. “I think of the best films (and) the best images from a film that I could possibly make, and then I think about the music.”
Zinn Rogers, a sophomore studying film production, also developed an interest in film at a young age. Rogers created a series of short films involving alien puppets as a hobby before it turned into a more serious creative endeavor.
Their film production interests have continued evolving into a current love for showcasing issues surrounding Appalachian culture.
“I’m from West Virginia, so Appalachian history, class issues and social issues are incredibly important to me, especially the lesser-known stories that come out of Appalachia,” Rogers said.
Like Rogers, Jayla Neal, a junior studying film, conveys more personal experiences in her films. Neal said many of her projects showcase the Black experience outside of the stereotypical Black trauma film.
“There’s more than one way to represent struggles and strife without it always having to be something like, ‘This person was in a situation where they were called a slur’ or where they were harassed in a harsh manner,” Neal said. “There's more ways to show the Black experience without it always falling to that default that's always perpetuated within (the) media.”
Neal’s films have explored themes of mental health, friendship, relationships, healing and self-love. Neal said she wants to create films that make people feel emotionally represented.
“I think a lot of what I like to prioritize is that characters don't always have to be the strong friend … or plaster a smile on their face, and it's OK to have emotions and to feel certain things,” Neal said.
Despite struggles finding Black actors for her films, Neal said her heightened awareness of her role as a Black filmmaker fuels her passion to represent Black life, specifically Black women, in her works.
“I'm 100% aware, like, ‘Wow, I am the only black woman in this class or in my cohort,’” Neal said. “But I think because of that, I am very aware of the privilege that it is to have a platform to say something and I try my best to at least want to represent Blackness.”
The film curriculum also allows undergraduate students, like Bowman and Rogers, to gain experience by volunteering to work on student-run film sets. Rogers said these experiences helped them streamline their specific interests in filmmaking.
“I started to realize more of what I'm interested in and what I'm less interested in,” Rogers said. “I think that was forged through set work, which is something I'm now realizing I don't want to do, but I had to do it to realize that.”
While working on these film sets with a majority of graduate students, Bowman and Rogers have experienced many cultural perspectives from the graduate cohort.
Bowman said international students make up about 80% of the film M.F.A. program. He said the cultural knowledge gained from these diverse backgrounds is a major benefit of OU’s film curriculum.
“I think Athens, in particular, has one of the most strangely multicultural environments in terms of art because not many other university programs have this sort of infrastructure for international students,” Bowman said. “So, for a small Appalachian town in Southeast Ohio, it's pretty rare that you'd have … probably hundreds of films made in Athens by people not from this country.”
Neal said bringing a diverse atmosphere to film scenes can help marginalized communities realize their voices can be recognized.
“I feel like that's why it is so important to have diversity within the space of film because it's not something that is often seen, prioritized or heard behind the scenes, or even in front of the camera,” Neal said.
Outside of interacting with international students, Rogers said their interest in watching films made outside of the U.S. helps them gain a larger perspective on filmmaking outside of the Hollywood system.
“I think extending our gaze out of the Western-centric lens allows you to see a level of filmmaking that just doesn't exist in the West,” Rogers said. “A level of attention to craft and attention to art that comes from a completely different perspective.”
Despite a definitive film scene not being established in Appalachia, Bowman said Athens is home to a diverse selection of artistic filmmakers, especially within the student population.
“We don't lack in creatives at all, in terms of the people at the school, so I think it's a pretty nice, little controlled environment to experiment with film."
