When the doors opened to the Campus MovieFest red carpet finale event at the Ferguson Center Theater Thursday, a mob of people had already collected outside. The doors opened at 7 p.m. for the evening’s event, but competitors, supporters and onlookers alike had been congregating since 6:30 p.m.

During their wait, students were able to have their picture taken on the 25-foot red carpet and view the 3D film set up alongside it. They came clothed in dresses and tuxes.

“The red carpet made everything seem so fancy, and seeing everyone dressed up made it feel like a real professional Hollywood screening. There was a very regal atmosphere,” said Emily Baxter, a freshmen majoring in special education. Baxter attended the event because she was interested in seeing the talent her peers had to offer.

Once inside the theater, a variety of screen shots were played to entertain people as they waited for the screening to begin. Ultimately, the Ferguson Center Theater reached capacity due to the plethora of people attending the event. CMF staff put out extra folding chairs, but those filled up quickly, forcing some individuals to take seats on the floor.

“I think it was impressive that so many students attended the event. I think movies are captivating, and seeing the participation during the finale was encouraging and inspiring,” said Kyerra Dexter, a junior majoring in telecommunication and film.

Finale attendees were eligible for a variety of door prizes, including Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, a six-month Netflix subscription and other assorted gifts. These prizes were distributed via a ticket system throughout the night during intervals between movie showings.

An anonymous panel of judges composed of select faculty, staff and students judged the film submissions in a daylong screening session. Forty-six films were submitted in total this year, and the top 16 were aired at the finale.

The films were screened in no particular order. Genres ranged from the comical to the serious, with the audience laughing along and tearing up throughout the evening.

“I cracked up, I laughed, I cried and most importantly, I was impressed by the amount of quality these University of Alabama students have in terms of filmmaking,” Nishant Gogna, CMF media relations representative, said of the evening’s films.

After the top 16 movies concluded, a reel of highlights composed from all the film submissions was shown. Attendees were reminded of the other opportunities for CMF 3D, the Millionaire Challenge and the CMF Wild Card. The Millionaire Challenge encourages students to get the view count up on their videos. Any video with a million views or more will win a free iPad courtesy of CMF.

Winners were then announced for Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Picture, Best Comedy, Best Drama and the audience award.

The award for Best Actress went to Natalie Riegel for her role as “Miss Peabody.” The award for Best Actor went to Zac Lovoy for his lead role in the film “Dogthulu.”

The audience award winner was second year CMF competitor, sophomore and telecommunication and film major Daniel Barnes. Barnes earned the award for his film “Closure,” which discussed the impacts of suicide. He won last year in the comedy category, and his team says that this year he wanted to attempt a much more serious topic.

“I’ve really been able to watch Daniel grow as a filmmaker and person,” Alicia Perez, a sophomore majoring in journalism, said. Perez was an actress in Daniel’s film submission this year.

The award for Best Drama was given to the film “Here and Now.” The film “Miss Peabody is Dead” walked away with the award for Best Comedy, and the award for overall Best Picture was given to the film “Buyer’s Remorse – Part Two.”

“It’s phenomenal, and I’m extremely excited. I got to work with a lot of the theater department, and they were incredible. That was an awesome experience,” Hamilton Henson, the director of Best Comedy “Miss Peabody is Dead,” said of his CMF experience.

Henson has competed in previous CMF competitions, but this was the first year he directed a film himself. Henson and his team put an emphasis throughout the night on their appreciation to Ian Crawford at the Jemison-Van de Graaf mansion, where they taped their film.

The award winners for Best Drama, Best Comedy, Best Picture and the audience award will all advance to the CMF Hollywood competition in June. The winners of the June competition will automatically receive invitations to the Cannes Film Festival as well as the Distinguished Filmmakers Network.

To view the top 16 films as well as the other submissions, which were not aired at the finale, go to campusmoviefest.com and select the University of Alabama under the events tab.

Campus MovieFest Winners

Best Picture: “Buyer’s Remorse – Part Two”

Best Drama: “Here and Now”

Best Comedy: “Miss Peabody is Dead”