<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This Wednesday, student filmmakers and movie lovers alike will all descend upon the Freeman Auditorium in the Newcomb Art Building to experience Tulane’s second annual Student Film Festival. The event will be coming to campus on April 19th, and is the brainchild of </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Professor Jolene Pinder and her SLAM Film Festival class, which allows students to gain hands-on experience by organizing a festival from scratch.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Our favorite part of putting the festival together has been getting to collaborate with our whole class,” said Emily Schweitzer, one of the students who is helping to organize the film festival. “Putting on this festival is really a team effort and we have met so many people from across different majors and backgrounds.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Students from Professor Pinder’s class worked in PR roles, marketing, graphic design, sponsorships, and curation in order to pull the festival together. Thus, this festival is the grand finale of lots of hard work done throughout the semester.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">I think my favorite part about putting together the festival this year has been witnessing how it is growing and expanding based on student interest and insights,” said Professor Pinder. “Last year, we executed the festival on a shoestring budget. This year, the Sponsorships + Partnerships Committee wrote successful grant applications and solicited support from local businesses which resulted in a more than tripling of our event budget. It has really made for a much more professional event that includes more benefits for both audiences and participating filmmakers.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It is free to attend the festival, no matter if you are a student, Tulane affiliated, or simply a film fan from around New Orleans.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The festival is a great way to support artists in the community,” said Emily. “People should come not only because it will be fun but because there are so many great films that will be presented that the students of Tulane have been working so hard on!”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At last year’s film festival, five films received over $1,000 in prizes, and the competition remains stiff in 2023. This year, the film festival will have a lineup of 21 different films. The first screening will begin at 5:30pm and the second screening will begin at 7:45pm, both consisting of a different line up of student films. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“​​Student filmmakers will have a chance to walk the red carpet before the event,” said Professor Pinder. “Each program will include Q+A with the featured filmmakers. The film lineup boasts something for every kind of audience member: comedy, horror, documentary, experimental — even a musical this year!”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There will also be free food provided by </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pizza Delicious, Plum St. snowballs, aAHA Sparkling Water…and of course, copious amounts of popcorn for your enjoyment</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">, so it’s truly a win-win for everyone. There will also be door prizes from Cane’s, so you won’t want to miss the festival. You get to see some wonderful student made films and participants get to show off their hard work to the community.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">I cannot emphasize how important it is for young filmmakers to have experiences to share their work with audiences. We make sense of our world through stories and storytelling — stories bring us together,” said Professor Pinder. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I couldn’t have said it better myself. The students in charge of this fantastic festival are sure to provide some quality entertainment for your Wednesday night.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The students in the class (from SLAM, Film Studies, and DMP) are showcasing </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">their </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">work. Planning, curating and executing a large-scale event like this is a massive undertaking,” Professor Pinder added.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> There is currently </span><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/cu86qw-tulane-student-film-festival?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&;utm_medium=copy_link&;utm_source=customer"><span style="font-weight: 400;">a GoFundMe active</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to raise money for the grand prize winner, so if you have anything to spare, show the hard working filmmakers of Tulane University some love and donate what you can. Regardless, the festival is sure to have you inspired by the creators of our campus and even more excited for next year’s festival.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It’s gonna be a hoot, it’s gonna be a holler, it’s gonna be the peak of your human lives,” said Aidan Levyne, who is a part of the festival’s PR Committee. “It all goes downhill after the Festival.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To reserve your tickets– remember: free for Tulane students and staff– visit </span><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/tulane-student-film-festival-1989929"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Eventbrite.com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">For the most recent updates, you can follow </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/tulanestudentfilmfestival/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">@TulaneStudentFilmFestival on Instagram</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><em>Featured image via Mercedes Ohlen.</em></p>
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<div class="wp-biographia-container-top" style="background-color: #FFEAA8; border-top: 4px solid #000000;"><div class="wp-biographia-pic" style="height:100px; width:100px;"><img alt='' src='https://tulanemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/mercedes-close-copy-e1679930693496.jpg' srcset='https://tulanemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/mercedes-close-copy-e1679930693496.jpg 2x' class='wp-biographia-avatar avatar-100 photo' height='100' width='100' /></div><div class="wp-biographia-text"><h3>About <a href="https://tulanemagazine.com/author/mercedes-ohlen/" title="Mercedes Ohlen">Mercedes Ohlen</a></h3><p>Mercedes was The Crescent’s Editor-in-Chief from 2022-2023. She graduated from Tulane with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications. She enjoys going to the movies, fashion, and writing about the great city of New Orleans. She will be pursuing a career within the entertainment industry upon her graduation from Tulane. No topic is too obscure, and no story too niche. Roll Wave!</p><div class="wp-biographia-links"><small><ul class="wp-biographia-list wp-biographia-list-text"><li><a href="mailto:&#109;&#111;h&#108;&#101;&#110;&#64;tu&#108;&#97;ne&#46;ed&#117;" target="_self" title="Send Mercedes Ohlen Mail" class="wp-biographia-link-text">Mail</a></li> | <li><a href="https://tulanemagazine.com/author/mercedes-ohlen/" target="_self" title="More Posts By Mercedes Ohlen" class="wp-biographia-link-text">More Posts(38)</a></li></ul></small></div></div></div><!-- WP Biographia v4.0.0 -->

The 2023 Tulane Student Film Festival Hits the Big Screen
