A class at Emory University is putting on the school’s first student-run film festival.
The Aperture International Student Film Festival runs from April 15-17 and is free to attend. Movie screenings will take place on April 15 at the Plaza Theatre, with blocks at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. The other two days will be for students only.
The festival was completely set up and programmed by students in Professor James Pellerito’s class, Creating a Film Festival. Pellerito, who is the founding director of the New York City Short Film Festival, brought a plethora of experience to showing the 19 students in the class the ropes.
“It has been really overwhelming to see how quickly they have grasped large concepts and have put what they’ve learned into action,” Pellerito said.
According to Pellerito, each student in the class was tasked with reaching out to top film schools around the world to solicit submissions for the festival, including schools such as Hong Kong University, La Fémis in Paris, and Toronto Film School. About 100 films were submitted.
The students watched each submission and ultimately selected 16 films, including selections from Emory, the American Film Institute, and even one from the Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film School.
According to Pellerito, the students would watch all of the submissions in batches and then discuss their thoughts during class. The selection process, as well as the process of setting up the festival itself, was treated as a democracy.
“It was interesting for them, because these are films made by graduate and undergraduate filmmakers, so to see the quality of the work that’s being produced in the world is really impressive,” he said.
The Aperture International Student Film Festival is a competitive festival, with categories including Drama, Comedy, Documentary, Animation, LGBTQ+, and International Language. All of the films are under 20 minutes in length. The festival will also include panel discussions and Q&As. At the end of the festival, the audience is invited to vote for their favorite film.
“Emory is starting to grow as a production hub, so it’s really interesting to have this festival alongside the growth in our production department,” Pellerito said.
More information about the festival can be found at the festival’s website.
