Students Showcased in UM Cinema Festival

Last night began this year’s University of Mississippi Cinema Festival. The Cinema Festival is presented by the Ole Miss Department of Theatre Arts and is held in the Overby Center Auditorium from April 24 – 26.

The festival features winners from the UM Cinema Competition that was held earlier this year. Students entered the contest by submitting a script and other pre-production materials. Alan Arrivée, UM cinema director, stressed that the competition was not for finished films, but for production plans. Winners received $700, $500 or $250 depending on category and length of film.
“Winners used the department credit cards or were reimbursed to buy elements for their productions,” said Arrivée. “It’s not just a check that they’re given.”
The winner of the 30-minutes or less, narrative category was T.S. Cooper’s “Know.” Hailey Knight’s “The Fierce, the Famed and the Hamster” won the 15-minutes or less category with Alex Thiel’s “One Big Joke” and Logan Little’s “Pals” as runners- up. “Animal Farm, Veins and Earth” by Dana Echt won the experimental category and Olivia Rearick’s “Untitled” won the documentary category.
Arrivée served as advisor to competitors in the narrative category, Brooke White from the Department of Art advised competitors in experimental, and Andy Harper, Director of the Media and Documentary Projects Center, advised students in documentary films.
The Cinema Festival also features films submitted by non-winning students and for the first time ever, this year the Festival will feature films submitted by professors.
“I hope this broadens our audience and gives more people the chance to be involved,” said Arrivée.
The films will be shown again on Friday, April 25 at 7 p.m. and on Saturday, April 26 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are free to cinema minors and theater majors and $9 for other students. Adult tickets are $12.50 and $8 for seniors and children. Tickets are available at the UM Box Office.
– Emily Xie is a staff writer for HottyToddy.com and a student in the Meek School of Journalism and New Media. She can be reached by emailing yxie3@go.olemiss.edu.