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DSC Filmmakers Selected to Present at Cannes
By Southern Utah Focus
Two aspiring Dixie State College of Utah filmmakers, Bobby Bowden and Ben Braten, will spend a week in May on the French Riviera rubbing shoulders with the world’s top actors and filmmakers at the prestigious 2008 Cannes Film Festival. The 61st-annual Festival will take place May 14-25, 2008.
The DSC duo was selected by the festival’s committee to present their film, entitled “Through the Lens,” in the Short Film Corner category, where it will be screened for distributors, studio executives, producers and professional filmmakers. Though the film is not part of a competition or up for any awards at the Festival, the pair is ecstatic about the opportunity, not only for themselves, but for the chance to showcase Utah and the Dixie State filmmaking program.
“When I saw my name in the email that said that ‘we are pleased to confirm your accreditation at the 61st Festival de Cannes,’ and the following day when I received the email about the film, it was the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life with film,” said Bowden, a sophomore communication major from Murray, Utah. “It literally took 12 hours for it to sink in.
“If nothing else, our whole goal with this trip is to help get Dixie State College to become an accredited film school,” he said. “If this trip alone could help double or triple the students enrolled in the program next semester or in the future, what could be better than that? I would love to come back here in the fall and see over 100 students enrolled. This trip could do a lot to legitimize Dixie’s program.”
“Through the Lens,” packs a powerful story about young boy seeing his future through a movie camera lens in the span of one minute and 42 seconds. The scene takes place outdoors with southern Utah’s panoramic red rock scenery providing the backdrop, with a novice filmmaker and his son setting up a shoot of the area. With the camera assembled and ready to shoot, the father leaves to get something out of the car, leaving the boy alone with the camera. The boy seizes the moment to look through the viewfinder and sees his own dreams being realized as he directs his own film.
While at the Festival, Bowden and Braten will be marketing their film, complete with movie posters and fliers, in hopes of getting studio executives to see the production. However, it may not be all work for the tandem as they will be fully-credentialed to take part in all the movie screenings and parties associated with the Festival.
“I really didn’t expect that we’d be going to Cannes,” said Braten, a native of Bloomington, Utah, who completed work on his bachelor’s degree in communication last fall. “We’re really excited to go there and have this opportunity to experience something that few filmmakers, whether they are student filmmakers or professional, get to have a chance to experience. I feel extremely lucky and privileged to be selected to represent Dixie State College.”
“Something in our film appealed to someone [at Cannes] and I can’t believe that we have an opportunity to go,” Braten said. “I’m very excited that Utah will be highlighted, because I think it’s such a great place to film, and we get to show the amazing scenery found 15 minutes from our backyard.”
For Bowden and Braten, who are believed to be the first two Utah collegiate filmmakers ever to be selected to present at Cannes, the trip to France is the pinnacle of a successful school year. Last December, the duo won the Utah Film Commission (UFC) “Spot On” commercial competition, which had the premise of asking why it would be ideal for filmmakers to shoot among Utah’s landscape. Bowden and Braten’s spot, entitled “Dream Utah,” was a variation of the “Through the Lens” short film, featuring the young boy looking at the southern Utah red rock scenery and imagining what his desires as a future filmmaker might be.
For winning that competition, the tandem received a trophy and a check for $1500, as well as all-access credentials to the recent 2008 Sundance Film Festival in Park City. In addition, the commercial will be shown at film festivals in Los Angeles and New York.
Bowden and Braten’s successes this year, along with two other past UFC commercials, has DSC communication professor and film program advisor Eric Young excited about what the future could hold for the Dixie State film program.
“The festival’s acceptance of Ben and Bobby’s work shows the potential this program affords students and the possibilities that students bring to the program,” Young said.
Bowden noted there is a fundraising effort underway to help secure funding, around $7,000 to $10,000 total, for the trip to the Festival. Individuals or companies who wish to donate to the fund may contact DSC communication professor and film program advisor Eric Young at 435-652-7801, or at young@dixie.edu.
Founded in 1939, The Cannes Film Festival is one of the world’s oldest, most influential and prestigious film festivals. The festival is held annually at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, in the resort town of Cannes, in the south of France. For more information on the Cannes Film Festival, visit www.festival-cannes.org.

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