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From Los Angeles to Buffalo: A night at the Oscars
By Darrian Dowdy
Michael Devine spent Oscar night in a suit and tie, walking the red carpet, and posing for photos. He even took home the award for Best Actor. Devine, a theater major at SUNY Buffalo State, wasn’t in Hollywood. He was on campus at the 9th Annual Television and Film Arts Night at the Oscars, a multimedia gala celebrating the Academy Awards as well as Buffalo State student films.
“It was very classy, right from the start,” said Devine, who starred in three student films nominated for awards. “Everybody was dressed up, it was very formal. ... A fantastic atmosphere.”
Community members were invited to walk on a red carpet and view the Oscars projected on the big screen in the Student Union Social Hall, all while enjoying live music and complimentary refreshments.
The Sunday evening event also encouraged audience members to vote for the best student films of the year. The films were available for prior viewing online, or at iMac terminals set up around the hall. The awards of the night were Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Actress.
Devine assumed he won his Best Actor award for the short film, “Affinity.”
“I don’t know for sure,” he said. “There was just a name attached to the category, there was no film attached to the name.”
TFA major Eliza Zanolli-Stiles was the director of “Affinity.” The three-minute short film is about a man whose world goes black and white after a recent breakup, until he meets a new woman.
“His world gradually begins to turn back to color,” Zanolli-Stiles said. “Affinity” won her the award for Best Director. “This was a film that I was very proud of and put a lot of work into, and I was glad to be recognized for that.” She also took home Best Actress for her work in three films.
Other films recognized at the event were “I Like You A Latte” for Best Screenplay, and “The Devil’s Dime” for Best Picture.
Jordan Sims, writer, director, producer, and editor of the short film “Solid Foundation” said, “It’s a chance to showcase our own work. … It’s our own little taste of what the future may hold.”
“It’s not even about winning awards,” said Zanolli-Stiles. “It’s just to showcase [the] work work that [we’ve] spent so much time and energy on.”
The audience turnout this year was lower than past years, Sims said.
“I think that’s more to do with the Oscar’s themselves…,” he said “It’s not appealing to the mass audience anymore. The Oscars are getting too far into their own little bubble, and they forget that we’re all normal people. TFA can get better and better every year with this Night at the Oscars, but if the Oscars themselves aren’t really that interesting, it’ll kind of all be in vain.”
“I hope to see it grow,” Zanolli-Stiles said. “I think we have a pretty good thing going right now and hopefully it will continue to evolve as the years go on. … It’s such a unique experience.”
“It was very nice and very humbling to see that my work is noticed,” said Devine. “It changed me as a student film actor.”