Through six different schools, one short film and two dedicated NC State students, the Cypher movement is expanding to California and France.
The Cypher, which NC State students know to be the weekly meeting of students interested in hip-hop, poetry, spray paint art and free expression, is the subject of a mini documentary created by James Huang and Shep Bryan. Huang, a junior studying communication with a media concentration, and his partner Bryan is a recent alumnus with a degree in marketing and a minor in arts entrepreneurship.
The documentary about the Cypher movement competed against 50 other films during last year’s Campus MovieFest at NC State and was recognized as one of the top four films in the school.
“We did good at the campus competition—not great, but good. We made something to help move the Cypher Univercity movement forward,” Bryan said.
From there, Bryan and Huang found that winning meant many new opportunities, such as being invited to the Cannes Film Festival in France and to the national c0ompetition of student films hosted by the Campus MovieFest organization.
“What we are doing with this film is d00ocumenting a real movement here locally, and we aim to document the whole trip at Cannes [Film Festival] and one day make a feature-length film running about 30 minutes to one hour showing how the Cypher movement is growing to new heights,” Huang said. “We want it to portray people who are involved in it.”
Brought together through a mutual appreciation for hip-hop, Huang and Bryan created their mini documentary about the Cypher movement based on an idea Bryan had nearly two years before.
“I had the idea 18 to 20 months ago, though I am not the first person to think of it, and I storyboarded a full-length documentary to encapsulate the different Cyphers,” Bryan said.
The Cypher movement started five years ago and has spread through North Carolina State University, UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Asheville, UNC-Chapel Hill, Appalachian State University and East Carolina University. Both Huang and Bryan see the film festivals as a way for the Cypher Univercity movement to expand.
Bryan emphasized the code of the Cypher, which is respect, project, ignore the camera, keep the peace and be original. The movement is centered on free expression, creativity and growing an appreciation for artistic expression among college students.
“For the documentary we created an organic blueprint other people can use to start their own Cypher in the spirit of free expression, respect and developing talent,” Bryan said.
The national Campus MovieFest competition runs from July 9 through July 12. Huang has said he will go to both the national competition in California and the Cannes Film Festival.
“Hopefully it goes well, and I’ll be able to network too, so it is a good opportunity” Huang said of the national competition in Los Angeles.
The two plan to go to the Cannes Film Festival in May, where the Cypher documentary will show in a short film corner in the documentary section and in the Marché du Film. Though the two are hopeful, Huang makes sure to keep his expectations realistic.
“I don’t expect this to be my big break,” Huang said. “It’s something that’s going to be small, and it’s a pretty small section of the theater. We are still student filmmakers, we’re still learning. The main thing for the Cannes Film Festival is to see the Cypher movement grow, moving internationally, and sending the message of free expression across seas, and also, for me personally, to grow my professional network.”
Shep Bryan, an alumnus, produced a documentary about the Cypher movement last year with James Huang for the annual Campus MovieFest at NC State about the Cypher movement. The film was one of the top four last year, and Huang and Bryan are looking to take it to the Cannes Film Festival in France.
