Josiah Stuart, profiled in Blades of Brilliance.
(Manchester, UK; Rome, Italy; Zürich, Switzerland; Tblisi, Georgia; Perai, Malaysia – March 3, 2024)
Barely three months after its premiere, Blades of Brilliance, a documentary profiling barber Josiah Stuart, has earned an impressive haul of international trophies. The film, produced in ART3205 Non-Fiction Filmmaking, is a semi-finalist at the REWind International Film Festival in Manchester, UK. It’s also been named Best Documentary Short and Best American Indie Filmmaker at the 8 & HalFilm Awards in Rome, Italy. 8 & HalFilm is a strategic victory since the win qualifies the film for its own Internet Movie Database (IMDb) page.
Blades was designated Best Documentary at the Switzerland Film Fest & Screenplay Competition in Zürich and an official selection at the Red Fox International Film Festival in Tblisi, Georgia. The film’s editor, Anthony Ferraro, and director, Jared Bupp, were singled out for awards at the Navy International Film Festival in Perai, Malaysia.
Because the film fulfills coursework in the Philm curriculum, its first purpose is skills training in creative technique. Sometimes more difficult to learn, but just as necessary, are the industry-essential soft skills of collaboration and networking. “As a group, our student films earn an average of 10 awards each academic year,” says Professor Brian Fuller. “The movies that win big tend to be the ones with the tightest-knit crews, the teams who are most committed to each other.”