The Student Hotel - "Stay Curious"

In this film we take our viewer on a journey to define the student spirit; the connected community, its everyday interactions and the energy and ethos the locations and people experience.

When creating this film one aspect that was very clear from the beginning was to truly show what The Student Hotel is and how it functions in a playful way. With more and more hotel and vacancy options appearing it was important to show how The Student Hotel differentiates from others. Because The Student Hotel is not just a hotel for students, it’s a residency for guests or an open meeting spot for walk-ins with a lot of utilities and spaces for every type of person to be productive in or for enjoyment. This film captivates the viewer with its visuals and will feed the curiosity to see what this place is about.

We wanted this film to have a seamless feel. The Student Hotel knew that it wanted to show multiple spaces and activities within them, therefore, Folkert thought of a surrealistic match cut story where Max tumbles through the many spaces, adventures and unique activities taking place in the hotel. Folkert wanted to avoid creating the generic perfect feel good hotel spot, he wanted to make a short narrative that really resonated with The Student Hotel’s spirit; something that is always listening, evolving and curious. Within these dimensions he then created a story based on fundamental values that The Student Hotel truly believes in, which resulted in a quick pace visual spectacle with a fun and witty tone that could connect to everyone.

The Student Hotel reached out to Folkert to create a unique journey manifesto film for their key value; the student spirit. They wanted to further clarify what The Student Hotel is all about; not just a place for students, but a place for the curious. Next to that they wanted to showcase their locations and unique spaces and most of all the people. Folkert came up with a protagonist that shows the type of journey the guests of The Student Hotel can experience. The character, Max, a young hearted, playful, charismatic, witty, smart, well spoken guy that is an embodiment of the student spirit that takes us on a multi layered story sequence that shows off 2 Student Hotel locations and many of the features within them.

Jury Feedback

CRAFT - FILM DIRECTION / BRONZE

We all felt the film was standing out in a category that tends to have very well executed films but felt into a too conventional directing. This one got a real identity, craftsmanship in all art and style departments, it’s jumping on your toes with a style. Either you like or not its Wes Anderson and Old Spice combined style. We couldn’t ignore it amongst films that are too safe too often.