Full Story Film Fest with Documentarian Luke Lorentzen

Do you cry during Zoom classes? Does your Covid diet include ice cream? Has it been hard to visit grandma without hugging her? Has it been hard to choose a college without being able to visit it? Calvin tells the story of how a family negotiates these struggles and more as they go into lockdown. They even paint the upstairs hallway together!

Watch: Something to Do by Calvin Riley ‘21

Jake documents his father’s commute to work through a mostly emptied out Boston during the early days of lockdown, and then the transition back to home and family. It’s a strange journey, but his father is a compassionate companion. Once home, he leads the family Seder via Zoom.

Watch: Life and Work During a Pandemic by Jake Gunther ‘22

Eili tells the story of her father and Rona, a puppy, adopted as a companion to get through lockdown, and through a transitional period of life. This is a film about making connections—even during a time of separation.

Watch: A Dissertation and a Dog: Home during Covid-19 by Eili Wright ‘22

In the early days of lockdown, “essential” workers were often those who worked hardest, for the least money, to keep the rest of us safe at home. This is a film about one such worker, Rain’s mom. Through the filming and storytelling of this piece, we come to see other ways in which her mom is essential.

Watch: Essential by Rain Ratliff ‘21

Abby’s parents are teachers, and her sister, thousands of miles away, is preparing to step into this profession at a precarious moment in history. This is a funny and tender portrait of how one teacher family handles transition during a pandemic.

Watch: Looking Ahead by Abby Scully ‘21

Jen’s mom is a nurse on a Covid ward, and her father is a volunteer fireman. From home base, they think of the welfare of others, and their own leaky window, in this quiet depiction of one “front line” of coronavirus pandemic.

Watch: Repair Work by Jen Clancey ‘23

Jaley uses patient observational cinema to portray a single mom who works on a Covid ward, and her children who alternate between wild frolicking on the trampoline, fights in the kitchen, and the stringing of colored lights in the bedroom of the youngest. Should Lena open the living room window so she can kiss her boyfriend? Don’t do it! says her mom.

Watch: Living Room by Jaley Bruursema ‘20

Melissa, like many international students, faced a bewildering set of decisions when Denison’s campus closed last March. Ultimately, she set off for home, for China. Despite the obstacles, and the two-week quarantine in isolation once she got to the country, the journey took on an emotional meaning she could not have predicted.

Watch: Home by Melissa Wu ‘21