Lee to host 12th annual Film Festival

Lee University is hosting the 12th annual student Film Festival on April 8 at 7 p.m. in the Conn Center. The semi-formal event will feature students’ work, a blue carpet runway and an exclusive video from the cinema program. 

The Film Festival will award two films: one audience choice and one faculty choice. The winners of the Lee Film Festival will have the opportunity to submit their winning films to bigger festivals outside Lee. Matthew Fisher, associate professor of communication, is serving as the producer of the campus-wide event and is also involved in the preparation behind the scenes. Fisher believes this process equips cinema students to experience the exposure of their work. 

“If you make a feature and it screens at a festival, that can lead to career opportunities because there are people looking to either represent you or buy your film and distribute it,” said Fisher. “That's historically why people wanted to do film festivals — as exposure — but also becoming discovered.”

Fisher has viewed and supported the Lee Film Festival ceremonies since its debut in 2011. This year, Fisher is passing the logistical planning on to senior cinema major Stephanie Larche. 

Larche is a student worker for the cinema program. Her responsibilities include collaborating with LeeU events, updating social media accounts and designing posters.

“My favorite part has been communicating directly with the filmmakers. Keeping in touch with them, and either urging them to submit their films or just staying in on the process of their films and how it's coming along,” Larche said. “It's exciting for me to help these student filmmakers get to this. It's neat. It's almost like I'm enjoying the whole process vicariously.”

As she prepares to graduate with her peers, Larche believes the experience of this year’s Film Festival highlights their community and work within the department. 

“The cinema department is so collaborative and community-based. We all help each other on each other's film sets . . . even if we're not physically together on every set,” said Larche.

Larche said she believes the Film Festival directly reflects Lee’s values. 

“I think an event like this, that's open to people who, no matter what their background is or what their interests are, anyone can enter and anyone can attend . . .,” said Larche. “I think that demonstrates one of the values of this school— to appreciate all the different forms of art and all the different ways to use your talent and your skill.”

The upcoming film festival will honor the cinema community, students and faculty alike.

“We're intentionally celebrating and appreciating what we've done together,” said Larche.

Larche’s work in preparing for the event is supported by the Lee University Events Committee. This committee was formed to sponsor and support campus events such as the Film Festival. 

Miriam Viars, junior theatre and psychology major, serves as student chair of the committee. During the preparation for the event, Viars said she was reminded of the investment within the Lee community.

“I loved getting to talk to [professors] and sit in meetings with [them]. It was such a cool reminder [that] Lee does the student-faculty thing really well,” said Viars. 

Viars hopes the Film Festival continues to cultivate the arts at Lee, with the art form of film as the main focus during the event.  

“The arts are important. I'm always looking for a place to put them on a pedestal amidst the rest of campus,” Viars said. “But sometimes the arts get lost. The [Communication Arts] Building is way on the other side of campus, so we are tucked away in our own little world. I will always look for an opportunity to have a campus-wide event that celebrates the arts.” 

Fisher believes this festival is a way to “fill up someone’s bucket.”

“When you do something nice for somebody, it fills their bucket,” said Fisher. “It can feel thankless… But if you actually persevere and make the thing, and then get it in front of a big group, and they laugh when they're supposed to laugh and gasp when they're supposed to gasp, then it really is a huge motivator… And if you don't get your bucket filled every now and again, it's hard to persevere. So I like events like this [and] how it can affirm them and motivate them to make the next film. That's really what it comes down to.”

To learn more about the upcoming film festival, click here.