Kent State University Independent Film (KSUIF) premiered their fourth feature film, “Unlucky” in Cartwright Hall on Thursday night. Cartwright was transformed into a mock Academy Awards party.

Men wore black tuxedos and tailored suits, while women opted for sequin, floor length gowns in colors such as sea green, champagne and ruby red.

Mock academy award statues shined on a table along with popcorn boxes while audience members were welcome to stand on the red carpet to receive a free photo strip of themselves.

“Unlucky” was a romantic comedy, with a twist.

“When a boy and girl fall in love at first sight, it’s not always as magical as a fairy tale. Without even learning her name, Sam, played by Matthew Weitz, must face unlucky situations in order to reunite with his love, played by Jenna Kramer, before it’s too late,” according to the synopsis.

The film was written by Nathan Mitchell and directed by Buddy Candela, a liberal studies graduate student, and Keegan Larwin. The film took two years to complete.

Candela said finishing the movie was a relief.

“I’m just happy that people were laughing at it and were enjoying it,” Candela said.

Electa Royal, a senior fashion design major, thought the film was funny and had a great time watching it.

“The actors were really good. I think it’s really cool they shot it on campus,” Royal said.

The process of creating the film first started out with a script competition.

“We picked a script, hired our crew, then casted and started fundraising,” Candela said.

Candela said the film was shot for eight weeks—44 days over the summer of 2015. Since then, they edited it up until the day of the premiere.

Michael Gallagher, a freshman digital media production major, assisted with the premiere.

“I think it turned out really well,” Gallagher said. “We’ve been planning it since the beginning of fall semester (2015), (and) seeing it come together was really amazing.”

Gallagher also said the directors did an outstanding job.

“I was just sitting there, idolizing their efforts,” he said. “They enjoyed what they were doing.”

Denzel Washington, a senior theater studies major with a concentration in performance, played the genius hippie, Yorik, a character who was determined to break into the mayor’s safe. Washington decided to audition because of his love for acting.

“I’ve been acting for probably eight years now,” Washington said. “It was a chance to better myself as an actor, and I’ve never been in a feature film before.”

Washington said he was critical when seeing himself on the big screen.

“The thing about artists is that we’re our own worst critics,” Washington said.” It was good to see, but at the same time there was something going on in my head to where (I) ‘could fix that’ or ‘maybe I could try this.'”

To learn more about KSUIF and to watch the trailer for “Unlucky” check out its Twitter page.

Jillian Holness is the humanities reporter for The Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].