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For the first time, UNM students will have the chance to showcase their films at the University for free.
The ASUNM Southwest Film Center will host the UNM Student Film Festival, the first film festival since 2004, in November.
However, this year’s festival will include only films made by UNM students, and students won’t have to pay submission costs.
The event is estimated to cost the center about $660, which includes expenses for advertisement, theater rental and staff.
ASUNM Southwest Film Center Assistant Director Aaron Sena said that because festival submissions are often expensive, student filmmakers are often limited as to how their films are showcased.
Some films might not be seen outside the classroom or websites such as YouTube.
He said that the event will provide exposure for student filmmakers and allow students to include on their résumés that their film was showcased at a public event.
“To get it up on the big screen is a good opportunity, because not everyone gets that without spending a lot of money,” Sena said.
Submission costs for film festivals, such as the Santa Fe Film Festival, often range between $50 and $100, depending on the films’ lengths and how early the filmmakers enter their submissions.
Although the festival is a competition between UNM students, other filmmakers can assist in making the films as long as they are submitted by a UNM student. Sena said non-students can help make the movies “as long as the student is involved in … a kind of higher-end creative capacity, like editing, cinematography, directing, writing, any of those things.”
ASUNM Southwest Film Center Executive Director Carly Weiner will select the finalists to be judged by a panel from the community.
The top three films selected by the judges will be awarded prizes donated by UNM departments and local businesses. SWFC hopes to award film-themed prizes, such as time with the University’s film equipment and film literature.
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Sena said the prizes will help participants gain access to some of the tools students in the film program at UNM use.
“If you’re not part of the program, you don’t have any access to the great gear that the University has,” Sena said.
Films must be eight minutes or fewer in length, including all credits, and must be submitted by Oct. 5 to the SWFC. There aren’t many restrictions on content; as long as films are not hateful or offensive, they may be submitted.
“It’s pretty open-ended, as long as it’s within the timeframe,” Weiner said. “We really have tried to make it as easy as possible to submit.”
For more information about the film festival, visit swfc.unm.edu
or email Carly Weiner at swfc@unm.edu
Submission deadline:
Friday, Oct. 5
Film Festival SUB Theater
Saturday, Nov. 3 at 6 p.m.
Admission: $2
