By David Dowling
A short film by two BYU students won the Grand Jury Award at the Slamdance Film Festival.
Andrew Black and Kynan Griffin, both media arts majors, said they never expected to win the grand prize at one of the top ten film festivals in the world.
“It”s incredible!” Black said. “It still hasn”t sunk in, I wasn”t expecting it.”
Black, 30, a senior from Scotland, directed and wrote the screenplay for the eight-minute film, which is based on a story by BYU professor Darl Larsen.
“Darl”s story was so strong, it was easy to adapt,” Black said. “It is a credit to his writing ability.”
Griffin, 24, from South Africa, produced the film along with Black”s wife, Anne and Jennifer Kirkham.
“The Snell Show,” is a black comedy about a group of people who get together every year to put their sunglasses on and watch “the greatest show on earth.”
Griffin said Larsen wrote the story about real events in the 1950”s, when people would drive out to the desert to watch atomic bombs being tested.
The film was shot in Juab County in three days. The majority of the cast members are residents from the town of Nephi.
“We had so much local support,” Kirkham said. “Our friends and family can out in force and carloads of students from BYU helped to sell-out the screenings.”
Black said winning the Grand Jury Award is very gratifying for everyone involved with the film.
Set in the 1950”s, “The Snell Show” explores the lengths to which society will go for entertainment.
As families congregate outside an old trailer in the desert, small children hold pinwheels in anticipation of the force of the atomic explosion.
“I read the story in a screenwriting class and found it delightful and disturbing,” Black said.
The win enables the film to compete in film festivals around the world, Black said.
“I was told we may be eligible for an Oscar,” Black said. “This is only the beginning.”
Griffin said it was a great honor as BYU students to have their film selected from 1,800 films to compete in the festival.
Slamdance has gained recognition around the world for its selection of independent films.
“We thought we might win the audience award because we had so much local support,” Griffin said. “To win the Grand Jury Award was a great surprise.”
