UA’S SECOND ANNUAL BLACK WARRIOR FILM FESTIVAL

The second annual Black Warrior Film Festival will take place April 11-13, 2014, on The University of Alabama campus. The three-day festival will include a showcase of student films from across the South and events with industry professionals. All events are free and open to the public.

The festival will open Friday, April 11 at 6:30 p.m. in Lloyd Hall with a spotlight on Carly Palmour, an alumna of UA’s New College and Department of Telecommunication and Film who works in the film industry in Los Angeles. Palmour will present her award-winning student shorts and discuss her post-graduate success as associate producer of “Fed Up,” which premiered at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

Local filmmakers and industry professionals will be a part of the Alabama Filmmaking Panel Saturday, April 12 at 4 p.m. in Graves Hall. Panelists include Andy Grace, Nick Corrao, Rachel Morgan, and Carly Palmour. The panel discussion will focus on filmmaking in Alabama and the resources that are available here and across the South.Award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay will be screening her feature film, “Middle of Nowhere” Saturday, April 12. DuVernay, who will introduce the film, is currently in pre-production with “Selma,” a Martin Luther King biopic that will film in Alabama later this year. The film screening will begin at 7 p.m. in Lloyd Hall and will be followed by a Q&A with DuVernay.

This year’s festival will feature an outdoor screening Saturday, April 12, at 10 p.m. on The UA Quad. Steven Spielberg’s 1977 film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” was partially filmed in the state of Alabama and will be screened on the quad near Lloyd Hall.The feature film “Hooper” will screen at 11 a.m. Sunday, April 13 in Graves Hall and will be followed by a Q&A session with Hollywood stuntman, Glenn Wilder. The 1978 film was shot on location in Tuscaloosa and features Wilder, who has more than 50 years of experience in the industry. Wilder will also lead a master class on Hollywood stunts at 2:30 p.m. in Graves Hall.

“ZOM-COM,” a TV pilot produced by students and faculty in UA’s Department of Telecommunication and Film, will screen at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, April 13 at the Bama Theatre. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with the cast and crew.

The festival will conclude Sunday, April 13 with an awards ceremony and reception at the Bama Theatre beginning at 5:30 p.m. Awards will be presented by Zom-Com actor Jarrod Cuthrell and Angelo Corrao, a feature film editor and juror for this year’s festival. The top student films will be awarded in several categories of filmmaking and receive prizes sponsored by local businesses.

Universities represented include Duke University, Florida State University, The University of North Alabama, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, The University of Texas at Austin, Samford University, Wake Forest University, The University of Alabama at Birmingham and The University of Alabama.

Dr. Rachel Raimist, co-director of Creative Campus and assistant professor in UA’s Department of Telecommunication and Film, said she believes the festival’s

expansion to include films from across the South demonstrates its commitment to showcasing students’ work.

“By seeing their work on the big screen, students can feel a sense of pride and accomplishment that doesn’t always come with a small, in-class end of term screening of the work,” Raimist said. “The festival offers student filmmakers the ability to network with each other and build creative bridges across the South.”

The Black Warrior Film Festival is possible through partnerships with Creative Campus, The College of Communication and Information Sciences, Department of Telecommunication and Film, Department of Gender and Race Studies, Honors College Assembly, New College, Student Producer’s Association, Bama Dining, The Source and University Programs.

For more information and a full schedule of events, visit www.blackwarriorfilmfest.com. Creative Campus is located within UA’s Office of Academic Affairs, Creative Campus is a collaborative system connecting students, faculty and community to nurture innovative thinkers who turn ideas into action. Creative Campus strives to collaborate and establish partnerships across campus and in the Tuscaloosa community; in doing so, the organization serves as a voice for the cultural arts. At the center of Creative

Campus is the undergraduate and graduate intern program. For more information on Creative Campus visit: creativecampus.ua.edu.