Student Film Festival Seeking Submissions

By Lyndsay DeBord
Special to iBerkshires
11:03AM / Saturday, July 19, 2008

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WILLIAMSTOWN — Two local arts venues are teaming up for the sixth year to give young filmmakers a defining opportunity — to show their creations to a theater audience.

"The power of seeing their work on the big screen is huge," said Janet Curran, managing director of Images Cinema.

The annual Student Independent Film Festival offers students ages 12 to 25 to showcase their short films. Images, in partnership with Minerva Stage, will host the screenings on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 8 and Aug. 9, at its 50 Spring St. location. There is no fee for attending, but donations are encouraged.

Tori Wonderlick, 17, of Williamstown, will present her work at SIFF for the fourth year. She is filming an advertisement for a local business, The Browns. Along with commercials, she has explored different genres, including science fiction and documentary film.

Wonderlick said the festival offers an encouraging environment and that she had gained "confidence in [her] filmmaking abilities." Seeing her work on the big screen is surprising, she said. "You can't believe that you did that."

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The teens and young adults appreciate "an opportunity and a venue that's focused on student work," said Kathleen O'Mara, founder of Minerva Stage, which introduces young people to the arts. The young filmmakers also get the chance to work with their peers, networking and making connections that often lead to film collaborations for the festival the following year.

In addition, "they love the social part," said O'Mara. The film festival boasts "a gala atmosphere" with food and music where students from around the community can meet.

Students in the past have been largely from the Berkshires area, but the festival has also seen entries from across the country. While some work on their films for class projects, others are "very truly off-the-cuff independent film" students, said O'Mara.

Interested students still have time to submit their work to SIFF. Submissions are being accepted through Friday, July 25, when students on the selection committee will choose which films will be presented.

There is a $10 entry fee that, along with the submission, can be dropped off at the cinema or sent to Images Cinema, PO BOX 283, Williamstown, MA 01267.

Videos of past submissions can be found on YouTube. There you will find short films from a superhero story to an adaptation of a Robert Frost poem. Darren Fitzgerald, who is working with Images through the Berkshire Hills Internship Program, is organizing the Web site. His blogs relating to the student film festival can be found on www.siffest.com.