UNCW’s film department is hosting the VISIONS film festival and conference this Friday, April 1 in Lumina Theater with free admission for the general public. The festival will showcase international talent from all areas of the United States, Europe, and Australia and is the first international film festival and conference to exclusively showcase undergraduate work. Presentations will be held all day Friday, starting with keynote speaker and filmmaker Isaiah Powers sharing his story of success from an undergraduate artist to his current role in the industry.

“Izzy (Isaiah) was chosen because we were really looking for someone who had great success as a filmmaker while an undergraduate. Most people who attain such success are either getting their MFA (Master of Fine Arts) or have been in the industry for quite a while,” said VISIONS Director Shannon Silva. “However, Izzy won a silver award at the Student Academy Awards in Animation for his film ‘DriedUp’ as an undergraduate student, which really defined our purpose for the festival. He was perfect.”

The theme of the festival centers on the work of young students and was orchestrated entirely by film students here at UNCW. Senior Andy Myers, public relations coordinator for VISIONS, was the spearhead for the program and with the help of several other students contacted over 300 schools worldwide asking for their involvement and submissions. From those submissions, nine films and 12 abstracts were chosen for the festival.

“It was really Andy’s work that got the word about this project out. Basically him and five other film students contacted universities for submissions and then chose the final candidates. Myself and another professor gave lectures on what to look for in deciding what submissions got chosen, but they did all the work,” said Silva.

Several of the films being presented are products of UNCW film students as well and include cartoons, documentaries, self-portraits, narratives and scholarly work. Two notable works include film student Evan Rothman’s cartoon depicting the lives of his two characters in the porn industry and fellow student Christina Simon’s presentation focusing on the interesting censorship and culture of the Bollywood film industry.

The inauguration of the series will begin at 9 a.m. and presentations and films will be shown throughout the day.

“The purpose of the festival is to really celebrate undergraduate work so that students can learn from each other. The best way to contribute to the film industry is through witnessing the finest of your contemporary’s work, which is what this festival really aimed to do,” said Silva.