Cinefest Fairfield | Press Releases

6 p.m., Saturday, May 5, 2012
Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts
Free Admission

Image: Cinefest Fairfield University rolls out the red carpet at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts when it presents the 8th annual Cinefest Fairfield at 6 p.m., Saturday, May 5, 2012. Partially funded by The Humanities Institute in the College of Arts and Sciences, Cinefest Fairfield is an annual showcase for short films and videos produced by Fairfield University students in the New Media: Film, Television & Radio Program. Admission is free.

Cinefest is a juried film festival in which approximately a dozen student films are chosen to be screened from approximately two dozen submissions. Judges consist of Fairfield University faculty members from the New Media Program and other departments, as well as university staff. The judges make their decisions in late April and also choose which of the finalists will win awards in categories such as cinematography, directing, editing, and sound design. An 'Audience Choice' award is also determined by the Cinefest audience immediately after the screenings.

Image: Cinefest Graduating seniors direct or produce the majority of submissions, but work completed for classroom assignments or independent productions is welcome from all matriculating Fairfield University students. Since underclassmen participate in the production crews of senior capstone projects, Cinefest showcases the fruit of their labor even when directing credit belongs to upperclassmen. The average running time of each film is 15-20 minutes, and a wide variety of genres are represented - fiction, documentary, TV newsmagazine, music videos, experimental films, animation, even musical-variety.

Cinefest begins with an hour-long "red carpet" reception featuring stand-up interviews with student filmmakers and New Media faculty. Student hosts introduce each piece during the screening program followed by brief interviews with each filmmaker. The evening concludes with the Awards Ceremony, culminating with the 'Audience Choice' award. The event is televised "live-to-tape" for later broadcast on Fairfield University's Ham Channel with New Media students serving on the production crew.

" Cinefest has evolved into the most significant annual event of the New Media Program," said Rev. Mark P. Scalese S.J., Associate Professor of Visual & Performing Arts and Director of the New Media: Film, Television and Radio Program. "Our students dream of having their work accepted for screening and focus their energies toward that goal all year long. Taken together, the screening event and television program truly showcase the talents and skills they learn and refine in our program."

Cinefest is part of the New Media: Film, Television and Radio Program, which is currently revising its curriculum for the Fall 2012 semester with a new program name, Film, Television and Media Arts. The program seeks to educate students in the historical and intellectual traditions of cinema and television, to provides critical analysis of media artifacts and their production, and to teach production skills and practices used in the film and television industries.

"Since our program exists within a liberal arts context in a comprehensive university, we believe our curriculum strikes an appropriate balance between media history and theory, analytic research and writing, and professional-quality film and television production" said Rev. Scalese.

The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts is located on the campus of Fairfield University at 1073 North Benson Road in Fairfield, Connecticut. Entrance to the Quick Center is through the Barlow Road gate at 200 Barlow Road. Free, secure parking is available. Access for people with disabilities is available throughout the Quick Center for audience members and performers. Hearing amplification devices are available upon request at the Box Office. Fairfield University is located off exit 22 of Interstate-95. For further information and directions, call (203) 254-4010 or 1-877-278-7396, or visit http://www.fairfield.edu/quick .