To say that senior Duncan Lauer’s semester is off to a great start is an understatement.
The media studies major’s animated documentary “Future’s Resistance” debuted at two film festivals recently, FullBloom and ChangeFest, and will play at the Raleigh Film & Arts Festival on Oct. 1. “Future’s Resistance” was also nominated for Best International Short Film at the Screen Power Film Festival, an international film and script award contest held in London.
The documentary, which follows a young Lebanese woman who gets caught up in a giant protest and begins questioning her faith in her country after the Beirut explosion, was put together as part of a documentary production class in the media studies department last fall.
Not many young, first-time filmmakers would produce and direct a fully animated documentary for a college course, but Lauer’s ambition paired with the support of his professors, Kevin Wells and Dan Hale, helped make the poignant film come to be.
Lauer has wanted to be a filmmaker since he was twelve years old. He originally went to UNC School of the Arts to study film, but transferred to UNC Greensboro in 2019 to get a more well-rounded education, to take advantage of college experiences like studying abroad, and to meet people of different disciplines and backgrounds.
Lauer says that the documentary could not have happened without UNCG and the media studies department’s freedom and flexibility.
How does he feel about making his directorial debut?
“It’s incredible. My animation professor, Dan Hale, encouraged me to submit the documentary, and I’m grateful.”
The success of his documentary hasn’t been the only thing for Lauer to be excited about this semester. A couple weeks ago, he received a one-in-a-lifetime call from UNCG.
Back in April, the Division of Student Affairs launched a lottery where vaccinated students would get the chance to win valuable prizes, and one lucky student would win a year of free on-campus housing.
That student was Lauer.
“It still hasn’t hit me. Housing has been the major thing that I’ve been getting my loans for, so the fact that I won this lottery – I can’t even explain how appreciative and happy I am. This will help me so much, and this is more than I ever thought would happen to me.”
You can purchase tickets to stream “Future’s Resistance” at changefest2021.eventive.org.
Story by Alexandra McQueen, University Communications
Photography by Michael Ream, University Communications
