Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / March 28, 2017, edition 1 / Page 7
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UNC Asheville alumni begin new indie film festival SARAH SHADBURNE Arts & Features sshadbur@unca.edu From the brains of four friends unit ed by their passion for film, The Cat Fly Film Festival springs forth like a conceptual Athena, taking life and rising up from the streets of Asheville with gusto to accentuate the enormous creative potential of the Southeast. “Cat Fly was inspired to get local filmmakers together in one room and show their work,” said Keeley Turner, the 24-year-old co-founder of the Cat Fly Film Festival. “We work so hard on these micro-budget short films and we want them to be seen.” The Cat Fly Film Festival ■ came to fruition from the efforts of founders Brittany Jack- son, Madeleine Richardson, Catherine Wi- tyk and Turner, all friends who graduated from UNC Asheville and want to give their community an outlet for film expression. Wityk, a , > 22-year-old re cent graduate of UNC A, seeks to utilize her creativity as a storyteller, spreading wisdom and life lessons to other people. “I really wish I could push things like empathy,” Wityk said. “In this day and age, political situations are so complicated and it relates to people in their personal lives and relationships. Things get really complicated, people make mistakes. If we just had more empathy for one another we’d be able to listen and understand better. We could all coexist.” The festival will be comprised of three nights, each with a different theme from March 31 to April 2, rang ing from drama-horror, comedy and experimental indie-artistic films, kick ing off night one at The Magnetic The ater in the River Arts District. “Themes that are very human that everyone can relate to are most import ant in any artistic work, but 1 hope to latch onto themes like that in my own work,” Wityk said, mentioning a recent music video she directed about the in timacy and endurance of friendship. “Fm welcoming people to listen.” Turner said she wants to inspire peo ple to search for and grow through the acquisition of their passions. Much of her own work deals with exploring the complexities of the inner worlds of her characters. “Making short films is my pas sion,” Turner said. “I want to inspire others to go within and search them selves, rath er than going through their daily routines and getting stuck in that, waking up one morning and not knowing f who they are be cause they didn’t search.” - The founders strive to give a platform to the original voices of Ashe ville filmmakers, as film possesses the ability and responsibility to broadcast poignant moral and societal messages, according to the festival mission state ment; people shape the future. “We got a lot of submissions,” Turner said, delight in her voice. “We had our own screening that we watched every single submission we chose. We were just looking for professional, creative work, paying attention to the quality — of the story, the visual — and that had something to do with Asheville.” Wityk expresses similar delight as CONTINUED ON PAGE 18
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