精东传媒

August 29, 2019

Short film festival to curb drinking culture at UOW Residences

Winning film by UOW student portrays consequences of heavy drinking on education

On Tuesday night, August 27, 精东传媒 of 精东传媒 (UOW) hosted an inaugural film festival to raise awareness about safer drinking practices among students living on campus.

ResFlix 鈥� A Phoney Film Festival, was open exclusively to UOW students in residence, and the finalist screening featured 12 films shot on smartphones or tablets under two minutes in length. Each film addressed the theme Dial It Back (dial back your drinking).

The winning submission titled Party, sleep, uni, repeat portrays the negative consequences of excessive drinking on a student鈥檚 experience at university.

 

鈥淚t presents to the audience how poor decisions are affecting a student鈥檚 attentiveness in class, and their grades,鈥� Resflix winner and Kooloobong Village resident James Sutherland said.

Mr Sutherland won $1000 for his entry and said the competition had likely attracted so many entries because the theme resonated with students.

鈥淧ersonally I felt like I could make a connection to it,鈥� he said.

鈥淲e鈥檝e all just moved out of home, we鈥檙e young adults making decisions without the input of others.鈥�

Runner Up Swapnil Bhatnagar, Winner James Sutherland and People's Choice Winner Maria Ortiz on Tuesday night.

There were entries from Marketview, Graduate House, Weerona College, Bangalay, Campus East and Kooloobong Village residences.

Mr Sutherland said the film festival had created awareness about the issue; there were a number of conversations about drinking among his peers at Kooloobong while they were creating the film.

The free event which attracted close to 300 students and staff to the UniHall on Tuesday grew from an idea by Marketview resident Shamila Ebadi.

UOW Safe and Respectful Communities Manager Ron Fogarty was supportive of the concept from the start.

鈥淲e take the safety and wellbeing of students very seriously and thought this would be a fun and engaging way for students to talk about the issues,鈥� Mr Fogarty said.

鈥淲e were pleased to see so many students engaging with the topic, and seriously considering the impact of heavy drinking on their health and wellbeing.鈥�

Resflix at UniHall on Tuesday night.

In a survey, 95 per cent of attendees said they felt the event was effective in generating a conversation about safe drinking practices.

鈥淲e will continue to look for opportunities like these to ensure our students are informed and safe.鈥�

UOW Accommodation Services Director Nigel Pennington said the evening showcased the creativity and sense of community that exists in our student residences, while delivering an important message around creating safer drinking practices.

and also supported the event.