If you or anyone you know has made a film while attending the University, there have been only one or two opportunities to enter your film into a film festival not otherwise connected to a certain program. That is, until now.
You don’t have to be a cinema studies or journalism major to enter any of your films into the University Film Organization Spring Film Festival and Gala, happening at 115 Lawrence at 6 p.m. on May 26.@@http://cinema.uoregon.edu/events/screenings/ufo-film-festival-call-for-entries@@
“The University Film Organization officers sat down, and we talked about the fact that there doesn’t exist a film festival that is open to all students of the University,” UFO president Aaron Blanton said.@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Aaron+Blanton@@ “We wanted to give people that opportunity. All genres, all types of film.
“There are no categories. You can literally submit anything you have made, and we will watch it,” he said. “We’re putting together a program where we’ll have a good line-up, have a great deal of diversity, and all it comes down to is just the merit of the work.”
The gala will be a “fancy dress party,” with an audience choice award given at the end of the event. There may even be an award given out for best dressed.
“We want to grow the event in participation and scale every year,” Blanton said. “It’s going to happen every spring, and hopefully, it’s around to stay. And as far as what kind of award we’re giving out … you’ll just have to wait and see.”
Jesse Vinton@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Jesse+Vinton@@ is a student filmmaker with experience in music videos and other films. He submitted four films this year.
“One of the films I put in was a short film that I produced in high school. I put in a music video that I shot for a hip-hop group last year, one from the Adrenaline Film Fest,@@http://www.virginiafilmfestival.org/participate/adrenaline/@@ and a couple of others,” Vinton said. “I film concerts semi-professionally. A lot of the difficulties lie in that even if you know the artist and get their permission, you have to communicate with the promoter, and you have to go to them. They travel a lot, and as a student, it gets pretty difficult.”
Vinton continued, “I think it’s just great. We don’t have the chance to see other students’ work. Like students from the J-school and others. There are a lot of people that get inspired by others people’s work, especially when they’re young people. But with a film festival like this, we have that opportunity. So maybe some kid will show up to this festival, get inspired and start making films.”
“I’m really excited. This is a really big step for the UFO,” group member Sam Stendal said.@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Samantha+Stendal@@ “What we want is to show that we’re not just making short films that aren’t very good but making quality films that are being shown at festivals.”
Stendal continued, “I really enjoy the club. I can go in there and learn cool things. It’s a place to discuss films and do production and sometimes talk to some industry professionals. I’m a film major, so this is the perfect event for me, but there are a lot of people that have submitted films that aren’t a part of the film studies program.”