With the semester coming to a close in less than a month, many campus organizations have begun to plan their final events for this fall. The University Activities Board (UAB) is no different, with the student organization planning a virtual film festival slated to occur during the last day of class, Nov. 17. 

This event is run by UAB Wellness, Outreach, Leisure, and Films (W.O.L.F.) committee. According to UAB’s website, W.O.L.F., will be accepting student, staff and faculty submissions until 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 2. Submissions will be judged on several categories, including the use of theme, editing, overall experience and creativity/originality. Students who submit have the chance to win specific prizes for different categories. The featured category for the upcoming student film festival is “60 Second Shorts,” with a separate movie-themed prize from the other categories.

According to TyDasia Davis, the chair of the W.O.L.F committee and a third-year studying film studies and communication, the idea for the virtual student film festival was inspired by past film festivals held on campus over the past five years, and is a chance for students to “do something during their time at home to be creative and have something fun to do and hopefully win a prize.”

The planning process for the event has been considerably different from past UAB film festivals, especially with classes being online. The committee has been having to work well together as well as reaching out to partners and delegating.

“We give each other certain tasks and figure things out,” Davis said. “We contact the partners, they help us with video editing for our premiere that’s happening in November, and then figure out who’s going to be doing the hosting parts of the video and just setting up logistics forms and coming up with rules and guidelines.”

To market the event, Davis and other W.O.L.F committee members have been hard at work sending out informational graphics, submitting newsletters and paying for advertisements.

Students planning on attending the festival can expect the event to be split into two different parts. 

“The first is a premiere with all the film submissions, and it’s sort of like a presentation,” Davis said. “Someone’s hosting it and describing the films before they play. Later that day is going to be a live awards ceremony for the winners and a Q&A with students who want to ask featured filmmakers any questions.”

According to Davis, the film festival will be airing on YouTube at 3 p.m. on Nov. 17, with the awards ceremony being held over Zoom that evening at 5 p.m. 

Film festivals are not new at NC State, and yet their constant presence on campus helps remind the student population of the important role film plays in relaying information and understanding the world. Programs that honor student filmmaking, especially at a school with a heavily STEM-focused background, are immeasurably important, according to Davis. 

“This is a campus that’s heavily focused on things other than art,” Davis said. “I feel like this is a great opportunity for students to know that they can be creative on a STEM-focused campus and that they’re not excluded or forgotten. It’s a great way, and it’s not just for art students. Anyone can come and do this to be surrounded by fun, creative ideas. Creative identities and being able to showcase their talents and even their ideas. Sometimes these films can go really deep and go past a surface level of what a fun, short film can be.”

To learn more about attending the W.O.L.F Film Festival 2020, or even submit your own film, visit UAB’s website.