The Yellowhammer Film Festival has opened its doors for submissions, as officials prepare for the panels and exhibition to come.
For three years, the Yellowhammer Film Festival has grown as a film festival local to Troy, Alabama, where students from across the nation have entered films for awards and prizes.
“We're trying to serve the greater good of Alabama's creative community by having this film Festival,” said Chris Stagl, the co-director and founder of the Yellowhammer Film Festival.
“We’re trying to engage the community and student filmmakers, and invite people to campus to fill up the theater.”
In its fourth year, the Yellowhammer Film Festival has opened its submissions, and over 205 entries have already been submitted.
Students can enter a variety of films, including short films, commercials, animations and more. Officials have also added a photography and poster category that are open for submissions.
“Entering films in festivals is a really cool way to validate the work that gets put into making something like a short film,” said Howard Purvee, a junior graphic design major from Hartford, Alabama. “Sometimes, even if you don’t win awards, you can get feedback on how to improve.
“If the films are being premiered in a theatre and you can attend the screenings – like at Yellowhammer – I highly recommend going. The rush of watching people watch something you’ve made on the big screen is unlike anything else I’ve experienced.”
Currently planned for October 24, officials have been gathering personnel for panels and presentations that anyone can attend, free of charge.
One of these panels, “Peaks and Valleys of Making a Senior Thesis Film” will have Purvee, filmmaker Lev Ettinger and Troy Alumnus and co-director of the Yellowhammer Film Festival Nate Hobbs.
“[In the panel], I’ll be talking about the whole process of what I had to go through to complete such a big project and giving advice on how to think outside the box – from growing my hair and beard out to give the character more realism to showing how I set up certain shots,” Purvee said. “I hope to make filmmaking feel as accessible as possible for students.”
This year, the Yellowhammer Film Festival will be awarding prizes for winning entries thanks to the sponsors for this year’s festival.
These sponsors include Rokinon, Freewell, DigitalFoto, Blackmagic, Kondor Blue, Iron Glass, Tiffen, AngelBird and Above Below The Line.
“[One thing] we are very, very excited about is that we've got incredible sponsors that have signed on this year to really give us some very valuable prize packages for our students,” Stagl said. “These sponsors combined are going to be bringing about $10,000 [combined] in cash and prizes to the table for our best films, it's incredible the response that we had this year.”
Any student in high school or college has until September 25 to submit entries for any category. Students interested can create a Film Freeway account to enter through the festival’s Film Freeway profile.
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