Student-Directed Documentary of Immigrant Family Supporting Their Dying Mother Wins First Place at COM’s Redstone Film Festival

Student-Directed Documentary of Immigrant Family Supporting Their Dying Mother Wins First Place at COM's Redstone Film Festival

Annual Boston University competition celebrates the year's best student films and scripts

Few cultures relish discussing death, but the subject is especially taboo in Chinese culture. That didn't deter up-and-coming filmmaker Jingyi Li (COM'25), who thought the subject would make for a compelling subject for a documentary. Her film tPópo is a quiet, poignant examination of a local family of Hong Kong immigrants supporting their matriarch at the end of her life. It won top honors at BU's 45th annual Redstone Film Festival this weekend, taking home both best film and best documentary, along with several technical awards.

"I spent a whole semester with this family," Li said after the three-hour ceremony at the Tsai Performance Center had wrapped. "We took an observational approach, since death is a very intimate, personal thing. It was a really open family and they immigrated to the US in 1949, so they have somewhat adapted to US culture. I think that helped them understand why we wanted to go on this journey with them."

The screening and awards ceremony, complete with a red carpet, featured screenings of seven original films by COM film and television students. First, second, and third place awards were handed out for the films, along with several other awards, ranging from best screenwriting to best sound design. The audience, filled with the filmmakers themselves, along with their actors and crews, their classmates, families, and faculty, cheered on the nominated films.

Craig Shepherd, a College of Communication professor of the practice of film and television and chair of the film and television department, kicked off the three-hour event at 7 pm sharp, telling the crowd that the festival is the department's flagship event. "For those of you who are not filmmakers or writers, it takes a lot of determination, collaboration, effort, and luck to get to this moment," Shepherd said. "This is an exceptionally strong year in every category."

This year's finalists were chosen by a selection committee, and a panel of film industry professionals judged the finalists.

The awards are sponsored by Canon and the Sumner M. Redstone Charitable Foundation, established by the late Boston native and billionaire media magnate Sumner M. Redstone (Hon.'94). Prizes included Canon camera kits, iPads, and cash, meant to help the filmmakers fund their next project.

"Every second that you saw up there on the screen was a result of just hundreds of hours of choices: aesthetic choices, logistical choices, and when all those choices come together, and when you have a team that's working in a heightened, wonderful collaboration, you get magic," said Maura Smith (COM'14), a COM master lecturer in film, before announcing the list of winners.

Maura Smith (COM'14), a COM master lecturer in film, had the honor of announcing the final awards of the night. "Every second that you saw up there on the screen was a result of hundreds of hours of choices: aesthetic choices, logistical choices, and when all those choices come together, and when you have a team that's working in heightened, wonderful collaboration, you get magic," she said before reading off the list of winners. "And I think we can all agree that we just saw seven examples of magic."

Pópo, which recently won the top student prize at the Salem Film Fest, also earned the Redstones best cinematography, best editing, and best sound design awards. Director Li used a fly-on-the-wall approach, filming scenes that included family dinners with three generations and tough conversations, like how much morphine to give Pópo, the family matriarch.

Second place and best sound design went to What Makes Us Girls. The coming-of-age film, directed and written by Ria May (COM'25) and produced by Lydia Evans (COM'25), is about a teenager struggling to serve as a role model for her younger sister, while also dealing with their frustrating, irresponsible mother.

Second place winner, What Makes Us Girls, was also recognized with best sound design. "It was very cool to work on this film, it was a highlight of my college career," said producer Lydia Evans (COM'25) when it was her turn at the podium.

"It was very cool to work on this film-it was a highlight of my college career," Evans said. "A lot of wonderful women worked on this film, and I hope they get a chance to take…the production classes COM offers. Women are cool, and they have a lot of great stories to tell."

The dramedy Taper took home third place. Directed and written by Ben Locke (COM'25), the film is about a queer Black student who attends a predominantly white school. When it's time to get a haircut, he heads to a Black barbershop, but is a bit worried about how he will be received. At last year's Redstones, Locke's script for Taper won second prize in the screenwriting contest. It also won best LGBTQ Film at this year's San Diego Black Film Festival.

This year's other finalists: The Pale Lady, a creepy horror film about an elderly man who struggles to sleep because of hallucinations; Chameleon, about a worker with falsified documentation who must protect himself and two customers from ICE (especially timely because of current events); Vestido Para Mamà , a story about a young boy who designs a dress for his mother in spite of his father's disapproval; and Timeless Voices, about the Dong ethnic minority and chorus in China.

Awards were also given for alumni short films, student-written screenplays, the Sumner Redstone Television Pilot Contest honors, and film and television graduate students' thesis projects.

"I could not have done this without the support of all of our donors, all of my friends, all of our team, actors, and crew," Taper's Locke said. "It was really important to me to enjoy the process. I did not want to have a film that I hated. Even though the awards didn't really matter to me, I sought to have a really fun process." But in the end, Locke acknowledged, "getting the award [is] great."

Full list of winners:

Film and Television Studies Award for Innovative Scholarship

This award is given to outstanding students in the MFA Film and TV Studies Program, based on their thesis projects, as chosen by the faculty.

Aaron Homem (COM'25), for his academic paper titled "An Industry Standard: HBO's Construction of Authorship in The Last of Us"

Fleder-Rosenberg Screenplay Contest

Short Film

Feature Film

​​First prize: Rimma Onoseta (COM'24), Rally
Second prize: Lynn Asare-Bediako (COM'25), Ettie
Third prize: Carrie Wang (COM'25), Emergent

Sumner Redstone Television Pilot Contest, Comedy

First prize: Ben Locke (COM'25), Chosen Fam
Second prize: Ashley Teele (COM'24), My Liege
Third prize: Erin Deayton (COM'25), We Are So Back

Sumner Redstone Television Pilot Contest, Drama

First prize: Leonardo Ruiz (CAS'24), Zap!
Second prize (tie): Carrie Wang (COM'25), The Tracks of Labor
Second prize (tie): Luciana Vigil D'Angelo (COM'25), Dinner at the Alegres

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