University of Idaho College of Journalism and Mass Media students will showcase their work at the Kino Short Film Festival at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre.The Kino Festival is an annual event that screens student-produced narrative films to the community after working on them throughout the semester, said Denise Bennett, a senior instructor in JAMM who mediates the process.
“I teach the class, JAMM 475, which is the advanced digital media production course in which the films are created,” Bennett said. “They write their scripts for essentially the first month and then do pre-production, and then work on production and post-production for the last three months.”
Bennett said the students gain a simulated professional production experience.
“They have to deal with securing locations and getting releases for talent, as well as dealing with the challenges of personalities when it comes to working with a cast and crew,” she said. “Which is something they don’t get to do in an academic setting very often.”
ASUI Vandal Entertainment and local businesses support the Kino Festival, Bennett said.
Director of Broadcasting Glenn Mosley has attended the Kino Festival every year since its inception in 2001 and said he enjoys witnessing the effort that the students exert in their films.
“They’re often very personal projects and it shows a lot of initiative, energy and creativity,” Mosley said. “They are up here morning, noon and night editing. They are out running around shooting. They get really into it, it’s great.”
Bill Tracy, a JAMM student who will show his film this weekend, said the amount of time he spent working on the film was worth it once he finished the final cut.
“I have spent many hours in front of a computer perfecting it to the best of my abilities,” he said. “And seeing it all come together from just an idea in my head is an incredible reward.”
Lynnsey Phillips, a senior in digital media and broadcasting, said the festival gives the community a chance to break away from the status quo and support independent filmmakers.
“As a society, a lot of us are passive viewers and we go see films that are very Hollywood-style,” Phillips said. “But if you get out there and view things that aren’t in your normal genre, you can learn a lot about yourself and your worldview.”
Bennett said donations are accepted to support the Kenworthy’s effort to raise money for their Digital Cinema Fund, which goes to the purchase of a digital projector for the theater.
There is no admission charge to attend the Kino Festival and audience members will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite films, Bennett said.
“It’s a free event and it’s a chance for people to support independent local film making,” Bennett said.
Amber Emery can be reached at [email protected]