The 21st annual Oxy Student Film Festival will take place on Nov. 20 in Choi Auditorium. The event is sponsored by the Media Arts & Culture (MAC) department and receives assistance from MAC professors, faculty, and administrators who comprise the judging panel. Abigail Montopoli* (senior), Claire Li (junior), Addie Fabel** (senior) and Tess Taplin (sophomore) are the organizers for the festival.
According to Li, head of the voting and submissions team, the festival is open to all types of short films, with the only requirements being that submissions must be under ten minutes long, cannot have hate speech of any kind and must contain a trigger warning for sensitive content. Li said the few restrictions allow for a strong and diverse variety of submissions.
Assistant Professor of MAC Amanda Tasse said she has agreed to be on the judging panel for this year’s festival. According to Tasse, despite the event being put on by the MAC department, all students are encouraged to submit short films simply for the fun of it.
“It gives a greater insight to the student body, both within the classroom and outside,” Tasse said. “[It is great] seeing submissions from students who are not MAC majors and [have] their [own] creativity and passion and voice and filmmaking in their spheres besides MAC.”
Director of Digital Media and Production and MAC professor Diana Keeler, who oversees the student board for the project, said people should attend the event because it is almost impossible to find a film one will not like.
“We have a lot of variety of submissions this year. You are sure to find something that’s your jam,” Keeler said. “We have narratives, music videos, documentaries, experimental films; You will find something, connect with the filmmakers and find people that are into the same stuff you are.”
Li, who is in charge of selecting the submissions that will be shown at the event, said they have received approximately three hours of submissions.
Tasse said she hopes the festival’s strong variety of submissions will inspire fellow students to submit in the following years.
“The nice part about the film festival is that there’s such variety, and I hope it can inspire students to create work outside of class on their own,” Tasse said.
According to Fabel, the publicity team leader, Oxy Student Film Fest provides an opportunity not only for students to display their work, but also allows them to network and make connections with fellow students who share common interests and the hope of working together in the film industry.
“It [allowed] me [to] meet a lot of upperclassmen MAC majors, which gave me a first boost of motivation to make things because I was like, ‘I wish I had something to submit,'” Fabel said. “They are so encouraging for people to submit their work.”
According to Taplin, a publicity team member, the event allows students to gain real-world experience working within the film industry as they see what it takes to produce, edit and direct a short film with the help of their classmates.
“Honestly, it’s good to have on your resume that you’ve been part of a film festival.” Taplin said, “I am trying to gain experience in the film industry, so working on this is helpful to have seen how a film festival actually works.”
According to Tasse, the event sparks community because it brings alumni back to Occidental, who offer students advice.
“Alumni sometimes come back and help,” Tasse said. “I had some seniors presenting their production plans, and I got to see some of the alumni coming back and acting, or helping with sound or just offering support.”
According to Li, there are many people behind making this event happen.
“We have multiple teams working on different things.” Li said, “For example, we’re trying to get the greater community outside of Oxy involved, whether that be catering or if they have rewards to specific stores.”
Keeler said the event is a great way for everyone to build connections on campus and showcase their work.
“One of my favorite parts is just seeing how many filmmakers we have across campus, not just limited to our department,” Keeler said. “It’s exciting to see what everybody elsewhere is making and creating.”
Keeler said students who submit films to the festival learn how to collaborate and persevere through conflict, which is truly inspiring.
“So many people have ideas, so many people start projects, but these are all students who saw it all the way through and took the time to submit and promote their work,” Keeler said. “They should be celebrated.”
Li said the purpose Oxy Film Fest goes beyond simply submitting and watching films.
“We could all use a little art right now,” Li said. “For students, it’s that part of the semester where things are chaotic, and with everything going on in the world right now, it’s important to remember there’s community.”
*Abigail Montopoli is a section editor for The Occidental.
**Addie Fabel is a photographer for The Occidental.
Contact Mars Gallati at gallati@oxy.edu
