UNC student filmmaker wins $10,000 award

Jon Kasbe doesn’t make documentary films for the money.

But after the UNC junior submitted his piece “Raising Islam” to Vidi Entertainment, Inc., the media company awarded him $10,000.

Kasbe made the film when he was in Palestine as a member of Students of the World, an organization that helps students do creative work with organizations around the world.

The film was one of the six winners chosen from a pool of almost a thousand student entries.

It follows the journey of an 8-year-old boy living in the Askar Refugee Camp, located in the West Bank.

Kasbe said he found out about the contest in an email from the communication studies department. He said the project took him two days to shoot and about two weeks to edit.

Patrick Murphy, co-founder of Vidi Entertainment, Inc., said the company aims to bring visual entertainment and social networking together.

He said the purpose of the contest was to garner material to showcase for the 2012 launch of its main website.

“We determined the amount of the prize because we knew it would attract some high-quality talent,” Murphy said.

Kasbe said the amount of prize money was difficult to digest.

“I can’t wrap my head around $10,000,” he said.

“It’s too much to think about.”

Kasbe, who has been making films for only two years, said he likes the documentary form because it exposes new worlds.

“I like the idea of being able to show people things they wouldn’t see on their own — and finding a way to make it enjoyable,” he said.

Kasbe said he learned everything he knows about film from Jason McMerty, a communication studies professor at Elon University, from which Kasbe transferred last year.

“Jon has a natural ability to genuinely connect with people when he’s documenting them, and that’s not something you can teach,” McMerty said.

“He doesn’t view them as subjects, he views them as people, and then he tells their stories.”

Kasbe said he regularly asks Wenhua Shi, a UNC communication studies professor, for critiques on his films.

Shi said Kasbe is wholly deserving of the award.

“Not only is he the best in the class — he always has a vision,” he said. “He sees the big picture and brings up important topics through his work.”

Kasbe said his work highlights important issues without intimidating people.

“You want to get those messages in there but put it in a beautiful way that’s not overbearing,” he said. “You want to give the viewer hope, not leave them disgusted after seeing it.

“It’s like sticking a dog’s medicine in a hotdog and feeding it to him — he doesn’t even know he’s eaten it.”

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