Past Featured Films

"Phil Armonik"

(Experimental/Narrative – 22 minutes)

Between his regular cleaning tasks, head janitor Phil Armonik visits each of the rooms in his music building. As he listens to musicians practicing their instruments, Phil utilizes the music to lighten his tiring and repetitive job and escape into a new role in which he can, dream, imagine and create. From the various melodies he hears throughout the evening, Phil composes, conducts and dances to his own trio piece.

Filmmaker

Benjamin Epps, originally from Jackson, Tennessee, graduated from Duke University in May 2000 with a self-created major. His senior distinction project, "Phil Armonik," is a fictional short film that includes original music, dance performance and animation. The 16mm film won the Hal Kammerer Award for best film or video created by a Duke student. Benjamin recently finished work as the director for the Duke Film and Video Program’s 35mm short film project titled "Postcards." He currently is working with the Soylent Comedy group on a series of digital video comedy sketches, editing the independent feature film "The Grail," and developing a new claymation piece.