Filmmaking is an impactful art form, and it takes so much hard work and dedication to create a film that people want to see. The Pacific Northwest, and the University of Idaho have many talented filmmakers, and there is an opportunity to view and celebrate their hard work with the upcoming KINO Short Film Festival on Friday, April 29.
This annual event’s been taking place since 2001, brings the community together to view the hard work of University of Idaho Film Program Seniors as well as filmmakers from across the region. Anyone interested can come to the Kenworthy Theater for the in-person event at 6:30, and there will also be a livestream that can be viewed at the Kino Film Fest website.
Kyle Howerton, the director of the KINO Film Fest since 2019, explained that the festival gives filmmakers of all levels a chance to connect with each other as well as the community. “We want to bring all these filmmakers together to grow their network, and talk about their projects, and maybe brainstorm something new to work on alongside each other.”
For UI students in the film program, this film fest is their capstone senior experience, a final way to prove how much they’ve learned and showcase their talents. The short films students create are the result of a yearlong process, starting in Advanced Filmmaking 1 with drafting and brainstorming. And then spending their second semester in Advanced Filmmaking 2 actually filming their short films and putting everything together.
Until recently, the KINO film fest was only for UI students, but in 2016 the festival began to accept submissions from filmmakers across the Pacific Northwest and from students attending different film programs. The hope of KINO coordinators is that by expanding the variety and level of submissions, U of I film students would be inspired and motivated to work even harder to produce their very best short films, creating work of the same caliber of professional filmmakers in the region.
“It’s good to bring in other professional filmmakers to try to inspire students to work a little bit harder, and to make a better film,” Howerton said.
As such a widely celebrated film festival for our area, there are usually quite a few submissions from students and people all over the Pacific Northwest hoping to get a spot in the program. There are usually between 20 and 40 films submitted, with only around 12 -15 films being selected for this one-night-only event.
With films being no longer than ten minutes each, and time for questions and answers with each filmmaker, the event should come out to be close to 3 hours. Doors open at 6, and seats are first come first serve, so attendees should arrive at the Kenworthy early to make sure they don’t miss out. And while the festival is free to attend, if attendees are able, they are encouraged to make donations to help support the event and all the costs it takes to put something like this on. Anyone interested should take advantage of this opportunity to support local filmmakers and experience a night of creativity and entertainment.
“I think it’s going to be a pretty exciting night,” Howerton said. “It’s the first time that we’ve been back in person since 2019, and we expect to have more than 200 people attend.”
Grace Giger can be reached at [email protected]