Tale of Billiards, Brotherhood Takes Prize at Redstone

Fratelli Breaks, a short film by Alex Scigliano (COM’07) about two Boston brothers who reunite each year to play nine-ball pool in memory of their murdered father, captured first place at the 28th annual Redstone Film Festival on Wednesday night.

“Winning the Redstone Festival was what I wanted to do before I left BU,” Scigliano said. “I’m really happy.”

An East Boston native, Scigliano made the film with his older brother, Marcus. The brothers began tinkering with the project — inspired by their own father, who used to take them to play pool instead of to Sunday school — while Scigliano was still in high school, and started writing the script in earnest when he began his junior year in the College of Communication. The brothers also play the film’s lead characters.

“The judges were very impressed by Fratelli Breaks,” says Scott Thompson, the festival coordinator and an assistant professor of film and television at COM. “The film does not look like a student production. It looks very professional.”

Local filming locations in East Boston, the North End, Logan Airport, and Allston add to the film’s authenticity, as do the actors’ Boston accents.

Second place went to Jenny Alexander (COM’08) for Detained, a 27-minute documentary that chronicles the lives of several undocumented immigrants who were detained following a raid on a New Bedford, Mass., factory. During the raid, 361 undocumented immigrants from Latin America, Portugal, and Cape Verde were arrested.

“I’m just glad their stories are finally being told,” said Alexander, who hopes to include additional footage in longer versions of the film. “I’d like to further explore this subject by including information about the factory conditions and describing what happens to the detainees who are being held in Texas.”

Third place went to Jeff Boedeker for Being Dead, an experimental film about a dying man who scans his own memories in an attempt to have his last one be about a woman.

Sponsored by Sumner Redstone (Hon.’94), CEO of Viacom, the Redstone Film Festival showcases work by undergraduate and graduate students in the College of Communication’s department of film and television. Despite cold temperatures and heavy rainfall, the event drew more than 400 people.

“We’re truly putting out a diverse array of films here at COM,” said Charles Merzbacher, chair of COM’s department of film and television. “One night cannot begin to encompass the wonderful work our students produce.”

All nominations were produced for a film or television class. The entries were prescreened by a selection committee, and festival winners were chosen by a panel of prominent film industry professionals. Cash prizes go to the first, second, and third place finishers. This year’s judges were Laura Bernieri, producer of Tin Can Films; Kurt E. Fendt, research director for MIT’s comparative media studies program; and John Stimpson, writer and director of the film The Legend of Lucy Keyes.

The Redstone Festival has served as a launch pad for several cinematic careers. Previous winners and finalists have gone on to become successful directors, producers, and screenwriters. Josh Safdie (COM’07), winner of the 2006 festival, had a film featured in Slamdance, the indie alternative to the Sundance Film Festival. One of last year’s award-winners, Chris Messina (COM’06), won the Best Independent Experimental Film award at the New England Film and Video Festival for Nightlights, which explores night on the Charles River. And last year Boedeker received a slot in Campus MovieFest, the world’s largest student film festival, for his film The Kite Club. Boedeker’s films have also appeared at festivals from Atlanta to Moscow.

This year’s other finalists included Andy, by Stacey Palmer (COM’08) and Jessie Beers-Altman (COM’08); Auscultare, by Rosita Lama Muvdi (COM’08); and A Tradition of Sound, also by Beers-Altman.

The winners of the Fleder-Rosenberg Short Screenplay Contest were also announced at the festival. The first-place award went to Nicole Tomeo (COM’08) for This Occasion Calls for Cake; other award winners included Keith Keal (COM’09) for his film Burnt On; Rob Turbovsky (COM’08) for To Save a Child; Maggie Rossman (COM’09) for Girl Meets Boy; and Kristal Williams-Rowley (COM’08) for Cheap Labor.

Vicky Waltz can be reached at vwaltz@bu.edu.