Artboy was the big winner at the 2023 Redstone Film Festival March 31. Above, Maura Smith (from left), COM master lecturer of film, presents the best picture award to Artboy director Eli Canter (COM’23) and producers Amanda Schneider (COM’23) and Veronica Harris (COM’23).

REDSTONE FILM FESTIVAL

2023 Redstone Film Festival Honors Best of COM Student Filmmakers

Artboy, about a high school student grappling with heartbreak, swept nearly all the major categories

The red carpet returned to Tsai Performance Center on Friday, March 31, for the 43rd annual Redstone Film Festival, Boston University’s annual showcase for up-and-coming student talent from the College of Communication Department of Film & Television.

The big winner was Artboy, about a shy high school artist who must grapple with heartbreak at a Halloween party. The film swept top finishes—alone or tied—in almost every major category: best film, best screenplay, best cinematography, best sound design, best editing, and best actor.

Eli Canter, the director and writer, expressed gratitude for the recognition—and not a little surprise.

“I couldn’t believe it, since I came into the night with no expectations,” Canter (COM’23) said after the ceremony. “I worked so hard on this, over six months. I was helped by so many talented people, including student animators, to integrate [animation] into the live action.”

Much of the work on Artboy was done in the Production III class taught by Maura Smith, COM master lecturer in film, he added. 

Saved By Love, a film about an American couple trying to adopt a child from Ukraine, directed and produced by Valentyn Arden (COM’23) and Zack Furnari (COM’24), won the Audience Choice Award, as voted by those in attendance at Friday’s festival.

In the best sound design category, Artboy shared the award with Saved By Love, and, in the best editing category, the film shared honors with In Cod We Trust. Rishu Nevatia, a senior at Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood, Mass., won best actor for his performance as Liam, the young artist in Artboy.

“Given all the moving parts—all the things that need to go right, but often go wrong—creating a good film is a minor miracle,” said Paul Schneider, COM film and television professor and department chair, during his opening remarks at the festival. “It can only happen with a team effort.”

The festival also featured the presentation of the Alumni Short Film award to LiLi, produced, directed, and written by Brian Ríos (COM’10). The film tells the story of a father and daughter who must cross the US-Mexico border to find a better life—but the daughter cannot speak.

The awards for student and alumni film are sponsored by Canon and the Sumner M. Redstone Charitable Foundation, established by the late Boston native Sumner M. Redstone (Hon.’94).

This year’s finalists were chosen by a committee of production, screenwriting, and film studies graduates, with a panel of film industry professionals judging the finalists. 

The festival casts a spotlight on screenwriters, too, with the presentation of the Fleder-Rosenberg Screenplay Awards. Cheyenne Smith (COM’24) won the short film category for her script for Re-Vamped, a film about a group of friends who begin to suspect something supernatural is at play following a string of gruesome murders. Joshua Marx (COM’23) won the feature film category for his script for Quiet, about a team of government researchers who accidentally put Earth in the crosshairs of a hostile alien civilization. The screenplay awards are sponsored by Gary Fleder (COM’85) and Scott Rosenberg (COM’85).

The annual Redstone Film Festival drew a sold out crowd Friday night at Tsai Performance Center.

Tian Tian (COM’24) won the Adrienne Shelly Foundation Script-to-Film Award for her script for BOB, which tells the story of a seven year-old Chinese boy whose family is struggling after immigrating to the United States. The award is presented annually to a woman screenwriter. 

The Film & Television Studies Award for Innovative Scholarship was shared by Kellie Innes (COM’23) for “A Show Which Will Live in Infamy: ‘Band of Brothers’ and the Media Historical Memory” and Hoor Elshafei (COM’23) for “Honor Killing and the Case of Amina and Sarah Said.” The award is presented each year to Film & Television Studies graduate students at COM “whose award-winning essays use media theory frameworks and deep textual analysis of media in order to further our understanding of film and television,” said Charlotte Howell, COM assistant professor of media studies and television studies.

The full list of winners:

Best Picture

First Place: Artboy, directed and written by Eli Canter (COM’23) and produced by Veronica Harris (COM’23) and Amanda Schneider (CAS’23, COM’23)

Second Place: Saved By Love, directed, produced, and written by Valentyn Arden (COM’23) and Zack Furnari (COM’24)

Third Place: Concetta, directed and written by Geraldo Hinch (COM’23), produced by Colin Capenito (COM’23) tied with In Cod We Trust, directed and produced by Seonghoon, Eric Park (COM ’23) and Raphaël Edwards (CAS’23, COM ’23).

Best Screenplay

Artboy, written by Eli Canter (COM’23)

Best Cinematography

Artboy, Veronica Harris (COM’23)

Best Sound Design

Tie between Artboy, sound design by Elliot Wheeler (COM’23) and Nathan Clough (COM’23), and Saved By Love, sound design by Zack Furnari (COM’24) and Valentyn Arden

Audience Award

Saved by Love, Valentyn Arden (COM’23) and Zack Furnari (COM’24)

Best Editing

Tie between Artboy, edited by Eli Canter (COM’23), and In Cod We Trust, edited by Seonghoon (Eric) Park (COM’23) and Raphael Edwards (CAS’23, COM’23)

Best Actor

Rishu Nevatia, Artboy

Best Alumni Short Film

LiLi, directed, produced, and written by Brian Ríos (COM’10)

Fleder-Rosenberg Short Screenplay Contest

First: Re-Vamped, Cheyenne Smith (COM’24)

Second: Wit Of The Staircase, Zoe Weng (COM’25)

Third: Kai, Zane Henley (COM’24)

Fleder-Rosenberg Feature Script Award

First: Quiet, Joshua Marx (COM’23)

Second: Old World, Sophie Falkenheim (COM’23)

Third: The Milky Way, Alexa Salimpour (COM’23)

The Film & Television Studies Award for Innovative Scholarship

Kellie Innes (COM’23) for “A Show Which Will Live in Infamy: Band of Brothers’ and the Media Historical Memory

Hoor Elshafei (COM’23) for Honor Killing and the Case of Amina and Sarah Said

Burt Glass is director of communications and marketing at the College of Communication and can be reached at bglass@bu.edu.