(Image Courtesy of The Plan) “The exterior of the Richard and Nancy Donahue Family Academic Arts Center, where the Lowell Film Festival for Future Filmmakers will take place.”

Joseph Chartier, Alex Bisceglia, & Ryan Paterson

Connector Contributors

The Lowell Film Festival for Future Filmmakers (LFF) is an opportunity for the next generation of filmmakers to submit their works for a large viewing, giving students a platform to showcase both their creativity and storytelling skills.

The annual festival will be held on April 4, as well as April 5, and hosted at The Richard and Nancy Donahue Family Academic Arts Center at 240 Central Street, Lowell, MA.

The LFF has opened its submissions not just to UMass Lowell students, but also to high school students and undergraduates from universities across the world. The festival’s mission is to promote inclusivity, innovation, and diversity in the next generation of cinema. The festival helps give students a launching pad to kickstart their careers.

What to Expect

Attendees can expect a wide range of student films, covering a variety of genres, from gripping narratives and thought-provoking documentaries to innovative animations. Adding to the festival’s appeal, free concessions will be available for all attendees, along with admission.

Student Involvement

The Department of World Languages and Culture at UMass Lowell hosts a class every year in which students can participate in all aspects of producing and running the festival in exchange for course credit.

The class, run by Tyler Theus, an adjunct professor of the digital media program, provides students with hands-on experience in the judging of films, creation of graphics, running social media pages, outreach to organizations and other universities, and the challenges that come with managing an event of this size.

According to Professor Theus, students learn about the language of film and are responsible for choosing which of the submissions are passed on to the judges. They also manage the website and social media, creating graphics and promotional materials. Students are currently working on a podcast interviewing previous winners and reaching out to catering and t-shirt companies.

The class is open to all students regardless of major or degree pathway.

Purpose

The film festival has two main purposes: to allow amateur filmmakers the opportunity to display and showcase their work and to enhance and enrich the artistic community of Lowell.

“It’s hard to be an artist, and being an artist is one of the best ways to contribute to the community,” said Lowell Film Festival founding donor Glenn Morgan. “Our intent is to get young artists, student artists, the opportunity to demonstrate it’s ok to take a risk and show my craft and show my art,” said Morgan.

This is the second year the event will run, providing a vital opportunity for the artistic communities of the university and the city to intersect. “It allows the Lowell community, as well as the movie community, to join and to celebrate the students,” said Morgan.

“The cool thing about a film festival is that it says you belong,” said Director of the festival Daniel Frank. “The reason you wanna do a film festival… is it legitimizes your work. Having a student film festival shows students there’s a path after college to the professional world,” said Frank.

Growth

With both the artistic communities of UMass Lowell and the city of Lowell coming together for the Lowell Film Festival, involvement is strong. Morgan commented, “Last year at the Donahue Center we had over three sessions, we had a couple hundred people show up and it wasn’t just the students that submitted.”

Festival submissions are sourced from a great many areas, some even internationally. “We have a number of international submissions. Last year we had winners from Iran. Last year we had winners from Canada and France,” said Morgan.

The festival is hoping to capitalize on its sturdy international interest and expand as a whole. Glenn Morgan stated, “Our goal is that this becomes an international festival and that this becomes an event within the city of Lowell that further allows Lowell to cement its place as an artist community.”