William & Mary launches 2012 Global Film Festival
Global Film Festival The W&M Global Film Festival announced its 2012 theme this week: "Film and the City." Logo courtesy of Greg Thompson
Film and the City Williamsburg mayor Clyde Haulman recently visited the film production course that is helping put on the festival. One team in the course is making a “Global City Symphony” using footage taken during W&M study abroad programs this summer. The other team is gathering footage for a Williamsburg city symphony. Photo by Timothy Barnard
The College of William and Mary’s Global Film Festival has announced its 2012 theme: “Film and the City.” Scheduled for Feb. 16-19 at the historic Kimball Theatre, the event will again feature films from around the world, live performances, receptions, and presentations by invited filmmakers. It will also mark the festival’s fifth anniversary. New initiatives for 2012 include a pair of “City Symphony” documentary film productions, one of which will feature the city of Williamsburg. The festival is also launching a new local and global “Student Short Film Competition.”
This week, the festival begins accepting submissions from student filmmakers worldwide and here in Williamsburg. Selected films will screen during the festival weekend giving students the chance to showcase their work alongside curated feature films. Submissions and judging for the competition will be divided into local and global categories with awards and prizes being given for “Best Reflection of the Festival Theme,” “Best Story,” and “Best Artistic Achievement.”
A documentary film production course currently being team taught by festival director and W&M visiting assistant professor, Tim Barnard, and W&M filmmaker-in-residence, Jes Therkelsen, will provide additional programming. One team in the course is making a “Global City Symphony” using footage from cities around the world taken during W&M study abroad programs this summer. The other team is gathering footage for a Williamsburg city symphony. Both films will feature original scores composed by W&M music majors.
“We want the festival to open up dialogue and reflection about the world and cinema’s place in it,” explains Barnard. “We also want to celebrate world cinema as part of our own city’s rich cultural offerings.”
About the festival
With the support of the William & Mary Wendy and Emery Reves Center for International Studies and the Roy R. Charles Center, the Global Film Festival launched in 2008 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Williamsburg Theater. Attracting over 4,500 attendees in 2011, the Global Film Festival anticipates even larger audiences as it celebrates its fifth anniversary next February.
For more information on the festival’s 2012 launch and this year’s submission process, visit the festival website: http://filmfestival.wm.edu.
