Dartmouth student's award-winning film debuts at Loew Auditorium

Posted 05/18/01

Corrie Francis '01 will present a retrospective of her animated films Friday, May 18, at 8 p.m. at the Loew Auditorium. Francis is a senior fellow in animation and the winner of the second-place prize in the student animation category at the prestigious Association Internationale du Film d'Animation East Festival in New York City.

The ASIFA-East Festival draws student work from throughout the United States, including the graduate departments of film at New York University, University of California at Los Angeles and the California Institute of the Arts.

Francis collaborated with fellow Dartmouth students Amelia Thrall '00 and Michael Chen '01, who composed original music to accompany the animation. The retrospective will include the presentation of Francis' award-winning film, "April Showers," and the world-premier showing of her new film, "Ash Sunday."

Francis was a member of David Ehrlich's Film Studies 35 course. Ehrlich, Visiting Professor of Film Studies, has seen many of his students garner acclaim for their work including several members of this year's class. He considers Francis' second-place showing at ASIFA-East to be a considerable accomplishment.

"[Corrie's] animated films during her four years at Dartmouth have matured in complexity, technical proficiency, and artistic power," Ehrlich said. "Her new film premiering at her retrospective is a technical tour de force, combining drawing animation and fluid painting in a story of birth and rebirth."

Francis completed "Ash Sunday" as her Senior Fellowship Project at Dartmouth.

Since 1929 selected Dartmouth seniors have had the opportunity to explore areas of intellectual curiosity through the Senior Fellowship Program. Senior Fellows are permitted special freedom within the College framework to go beyond traditional curriculum in researching and developing their own ideas.

Francis entered Dartmouth wanting to study animation in a Liberal Arts context. She developed a plan with Barry Scherr, Associate Dean of the Faculty for the Humanities, for a "special major" in animation, taking coursework in Film Studies, Drama, Studio Art and Biology.

After graduation Francis plans to do illustration work with the Bible translators in Cameroon.