Tikvah
Campus: Short Feature
A group of undergraduate students from BGSU are involved in the daunting task of producing a feature length film. Based on the stage performance of "Tikvah: Enlightment and Remembrance", the movie tells the story of the hope and survival of a Holocaust survivor. Tikvah is Hebrew for "hope".
“Tikvah is not a story of death and destruction, but of hope, enlightenment and survival," says Jose Cardenas, a faculty member in the university's Department of Telecommunications, who serves as Director of Photography on the film. The premise is about “one person’s life before, during and after the Holocaust.”
Burton Beerman is a faculty member in the College of Music, and had created the music for the original stage production of Tikvah. Beerman brought the idea of making a film of the story to Cardenas, who recommended a documentary approach to the topic. What Cardenas refers to as an "artistic documentary".
Producing the feature length film with undergraduate students was also the idea of Cardenas, In earlier efforts to introduce students to film, Cardenas has worked with students to create a short film highlighting the university's Building Dreams fundraising campaign.
Another project was a summer workshop program, where students produced short films. A recent summer's session filmed a short version of Shakespeare's "Hamlet".
Beerman serves as Executive Producer on the film, and also provided the musical score for the production. Other faculty too are involved, including Ewart Skinner, chair of the Telecommunications Department, as the film's Producer.
The film project has gained support from a variety of sources, including Kodak, who provided the film for the production.
About twenty students have worked on the project and have been involved in nearly every aspect of the film's production, including writing, producing, directing, editing, lighting, audio, and many others. Max Eberly, a student who served as an Assistant Producer, saw the work as a great learning experience, and was proud that it showed students could take on something "larger scale and meaningful."
Cardenas agrees that it is uncommon for undergrads to be involved in a project of the magnitude of Tikvah. He hopes when the film is completed, to continue with other large-scale production efforts that can provide such effective learning opportunities for students.
Tikvah's current release date is the holiday season of 2007.