WM Global Film Festival Launches Student Competition

By Amber Lester Kennedy Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The College of William and Mary’s 2012 Global Film Festival will focus on cities in film.

The festival, scheduled for Feb. 16-19, will feature films from around the world focused on the theme, “Film and the City.” The weekend event also features live performances, receptions and presentations from filmmakers.

The festival, celebrating its fifth anniversary, will include a pair of “City Symphony” documentaries, one featuring the city of Williamsburg. It will also launch a new local and global “Student Short Film Competition.”

Student filmmakers can begin making submissions this week, with a deadline of Jan. 6. Selected films will screen during the festival weekend. Submissions and judging for the competition will be divided into local and global categories with awards and prizes for “Best Reflection of the Festival Theme,” “Best Story” and “Best Artistic Achievement.”

Additional programming will be provided by students in a documentary film production course currently taught by festival director Tim Barnard and William & Mary filmmaker-in-residence Jes Therkelsen. One team in the course is creating a “Global City Symphony,” using footage from cities around the world that were visited by students studying abroad this summer. A second team is creating the Williamsburg-themed movie. Both films will feature original music composed by William & Mary music majors.

“We want the festival to open up dialogue and reflection about the world and cinema’s place in it,” Barnard said. “We also want to celebrate world cinema as part of our own city’s rich cultural offerings.”

The Global Film Festival launched in 2008 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Kimball Theater. In 2011, it attracted more than 4,500 attendees. For more information on the festival, click here.