UMKC grad featured at KCFilmFest
A 2008 UMKC grad is moving up in the Kansas City movie scene.
Two of Jordan Kerfeld's short films were selected for the KCFilmFest's "Heartland College" division.
"Fingers," an alternative narrative about one man's mental inventory of his missing finger, is screening in the shorts program titled "Alone" at 5 p.m., April 22, at the AMC Mainstreet Theater, 1400 Main Street.
"Momentum & Marr," a chronicle of the history and dramatic growth of The Marr Sound Archives at UMKC, will show at 5:15 p.m., April 24, at AMC Mainstreet.
Recipient of seven Missouri media awards in short films, journalism and illustrations, the 22-year-old Kerfeld also edited and co-directed the half-hour KCPT student documentary "Art on the Block."
He said he was relieved to know one of the films made it into the film festival after trying unsuccessfully in the past few years, and elated when he learned both would be playing.
Kerfeld said there is a bit of anxiety about the screening of "Fingers" because he has not yet viewed it with a large group. But, overall, he is not nervous.
"As long as you told the story you set out to tell, there's no reason to be nervous," Kerfeld said.
Two other UMKC films are showing in the 2009 KCFilmFest: "Untitled" by Andrea Agosto and "War Games" by Jayson Quearry.
Parking fees remain flat
The 2008 elections presented the world with a new era of campaigning and politics.
Dr. Hanes Walton, analyst of African-American politics from the University of Michigan, visited UMKC last Tuesday to discuss the strategies of the 2008 presidential elections.
Walton, author of more than 20 books on race and politics, said Barack Obama's election was historic for two major reasons: Obama's role as the first African-American to be a major candidate for president and win, and Obama's new political strategies.
Walton noted there was much excitement all over the country for the first minority elected to the presidency.
He had his political science students at the University of Michigan write letters to Obama about the historic election.
Walton also noted that many down-the-ballot Democrats may have benefited from the increase in African-American turnout caused by Obama's candidacy.
Moving on to the political strategies, he said Obama's new strategies, which he called "the Obama phenomenon," focused on "things that the experts said were absolutely impossible."
These included organizing in caucus states, which the experts thought was "too complicated," and employing young people for grassroots campaigning.
By contrast, Walton said Hillary Clinton's advisors told her to do "other kinds of things to win."
These included the more traditional political strategies of focusing resources on large states with primaries.
Walton argued these things were not bad advice. It's the traditional way of "baking a cake," he said.
But, as we saw in 2008, Obama has come up with a successful new recipe, Walton said.
rthompson@unews.com
