Local filmmakers showing off new film this weekend

By Deanna Truman-Cook / IOWA CITY PRESS-CITIZEN / June 24, 2004

"University Heights," a film by a University of Iowa sophomore, will debut Saturday at the Adler Theatre in Davenport.

Scott Beck shot the film at several locations in Iowa City, including the UI campus, particularly the English/Philosophy Building and Mayflower and Currier Residence Halls, The Mill Restaurant and The Brown Bottle, among others.

Beck and fellow filmmaker Bryan Woods, both natives of Bettendorf, also shot at locations in Davenport and Rock Island, Ill.

Tickets to the screening in Davenport are $5.

Beck calls the 96-minute film a reflection on American life.

"It is an examination of life and the choices we make," the 19-year-old said. "''University Heights' grasps the everyday struggles of humanity - finding yourself."

The movie is set in modern day on a Midwest college campus similar in size to UI. It tells the tale of four lives: an instructor consumed by guilt and thousands of dollars in debt to a drug cartel; a teacher angered by his sexuality; a teen addicted to drugs; and a student troubled by his beliefs. Because of adult situations, the film is for high school age viewers and older.

"It is for any fans of character pieces as well as just people interested in different story lines and something unique," Beck said.

The movie has surpassed his expectations.

"We were just blown away by what it became," he said.

The film's budget was only $300. It caught the attention of organizers of the 2004 Microcinema Fest in Rapid City, S.D., where it will be shown July 10-11.

Beck and Woods have made 12 other films and have won several awards, most recently the Award of Achievement for "Remembering November" and the Award of Excellence for "Prism" at the 2003 Iowa Motion Picture Association.