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Friday, March 29, 2024

Visions film festival returns to UNCW

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By Pam Creech

Contributing Writer

Superhero film lovers may want to check out the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Lumina Theater April 17 during the fifth annual Visions Film Festival and Conference. The daylong event showcases short films made by up-and-coming filmmakers from around the world. Visions is hosted and organized by UNCW film studies undergraduate students.

Hillary Scott, a UNCW senior double majoring in film studies and business and the event’s marketing director, said the staff and filmmakers involved are those who really contribute to the art of film.

“We like to call the staff and the filmmakers and people we invite visionaries,” she said. “The idea is being a visionary person, whether you like to write films or write scholarly works about film.”

The theme for the event is superheroes.

“All of our campaigns are based around superheroes and comic books,” she said. “Everyone who comes out to our event is a superhero. Everyone who submitted their films and papers to us is a superhero.”

The festival will kick off at 8 a.m. with an address by keynote speaker Caroline Roberts, a film studies alumnus.

“She graduated eight years ago, and she’s had a lot of success in New York working on large-scale productions, like ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’” Scott explained. “She’s going to share her story and tell us the successes and challenges she’s had.”

During the first 90-minute conference block at 10 a.m., four film scholars will present their research.

“The scholars submitted a paper on a topic of their choice, such as Latin American cinema. They have a 15-minute presentation on what their paper was about and they take questions afterward,” Scott said.

From 12:15-1:15 p.m., a video race invites participants to form teams to create a one-minute film. A prize will be awarded to the team that receives the most votes during the video race screening 2:30-3 p.m.

The first film block begins at 3:15 p.m. Twelve short films will be shown, followed by a 30-minute Q-and-A session with the filmmakers.

“There’s a very nice spectrum. There’s something for everyone, no matter if you like documentaries, experimental films, narratives, animation or hybrids,” Scott said. “We have filmmakers coming from Australia, Canada and all over the country.”

A second conference block at 5:30 p.m. is followed by dinner and a dessert reception. The second film block begins at 8:30 p.m. All participants ages 18 and over are invited to attend an after party at Growler’s Tavern on Front Street, starting at 11:30 p.m.

Individual block passes cost $5. All-access badges cost $15 in advance or $20 at the door. For more information, visit www.visionsfilm.org

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