Friday, April 8 marked the second annual student film competition at Villanova, aptly called The Villys. The Villys offer an opportunity for talented young filmmakers, directors and actors to demonstrate their abilities in a multi-hour film viewing of all the submissions, followed by an award ceremony where films in each category would win awards, followed by an Audience Choice award determined by the watchers.

At the end of the night, the awards were given out. “Night Shift” won Best Editing, with “Unhinged” winning Best Story. Best Cinematography went to “And We’re Live,” followed up by “Slice of Life” winning Best Direction. “The Other Side of the Door” walked away with the Best Horror award. “Taking Notes” took home two awards, being recognized as both Best Comedy as well as receiving the Standout Villy Filmmaker award. Best Documentary went to “Recognizing Roots.” Finally, “Have You Heard the News” took both the Best Drama as well as the Audience Choice Award. 

Host Joe Adams introduced the awards in a charming and charismatic way. The night was filled with laughter as a result of his silly antics, like saying Father Peter himself will unenroll students who don’t subscribe to his YouTube channel. Adams introduced the categories of all of the films and the names of each.

The two horror films were “The Crow,” a surreal horror that was filmed in St. Mary’s, and “The Other Side of the Door,” which featured a man perpetually trapped in a loop of his own bedroom. Next up were the comedies, offering a much-needed respite after the spooky submissions. First up in comedy was “Unhinged,” a dark comedy featuring a titular main character leading frat boys to their deaths. Next was “The Carhartt Addict,” a parody of “My Strange Addiction,” featuring a young man battling his dependency on Carhartt clothing. 

“Taking Note” was the next comedy, featuring Shakespeare as a young female college student navigating her ambition and the world around her. Segueing into a festive theme, “Merry Finals” was about Heat Miser and Snow Miser sending Santa to Villanova, where his goal is to spread Christmas cheer to miserable students in the midst of finals. “Writer’s Room” followed the plight of a group of sketch-comedy writers, trying to come up with material in the midst of a bizarre national tragedy. Next, “The 2007 Store” featured a fake advertisement for a store promising ample nostalgia and a short return to a better time: 2007. 

Next, “And We’re Live” detailed the struggle of Villanova student Frankie to get back the funding needed to stay at the University after her scholarship was revoked. Wrapping up the comedy category was “Tom and Freddie,” an absurdist film about time-traveling gone wrong and doppelgangers. 

The next category was documentary, which had two entries. “Rosie’s Coffee” highlighted Villanova’s closest small business and featured an interview of the owner and her journey running the cafe. “Recognizing Roots,” the other entry in this category, explored the cultural and ethnic roots of people in the town of Loiza, Puerto Rico and their journey to self-acceptance.

Lastly, the drama category began with “Night Shift,” featuring a janitor who winds up in the clutches of a maniacal boss. Then, “Things Could Be Worse” took us through the life of a college student as he doubts the meaning of his existence and the purpose of his life. “Have You Heard the News?” follows a group of criminals aiming to cover their tracks after they find out their getaway wasn’t as clean as it should be. Finally, “Slice of Life” followed the intertwining stories of three groups of people who all attend the same pizzeria and how they change each other’s lives. 

When asked about their involvement in The Villys, the creators and stars of these films all had their own unique origins. Ryan Henry, the creator of “Taking Note,” shared that she’s a Communication major getting her Master’s in Theatre. 

“I’m just really interested in adaptations, and I love taking a new spin on characters I love,” she said. “I wanted to work with ideas like, how would Puck and Roselynn act in the modern day?”

The director of “Have You Heard The News,” Audrey Agnew, is the president of Villanova TV. 

“I love the Villys because it challenges the people in the club to make longer, more serious projects,” she shared. 

The tense concept of her film came from her crew wanting to challenge themselves.

“We wanted to make a film with no dialogue, because that kind of thing feels super tense, and we thought it might be cool to have the only words be from the newscast,” Agnew said.

A.J. Fezza and Matthew Gaetano, the creators of “Slice of Life,” discussed the concept of their film as well. 

“It’s a series of vignettes about a pizza shop and customers that go there,” Gaetano said as a description of the film. “It’s about the spontaneity of people’s lives intersecting.” 

Wisely, Fezza offered the mantra, “Pizza brings people together.” 

The Villys was a riveting competition, and every single submission was well-crafted and showed the serious talent and determination of the filmmakers. All in all, this is one Villanova tradition that should absolutely persist through the years.