FilmFest is an event that, in its short two-year tenure, has already created quite a buzz. Many students get dressed nice and attend the now-annual event at the Paramount each year. FilmFest is a special event, but could also use some improvement. FilmFest brings back alumni, high profile judges and gets a wide variety of students and faculty involved, and I believe this should institute a higher standard of films set by those in charge.

I’m mainly talking about quality of films. Standards are lowered when those in charge attempt to level the playing field by dumbing down the competition.

If you are good at what you do, should you not be rewarded for it instead of being handicapped by being required to use one editing program? If we are inviting high profile judges to our campus, I know we should be more concerned with the quality of the films shown.

Ironically enough, it’s quite possible that some of the winners may also have used illegal equipment. As an experienced filmmaker, I caught myself questioning the integrity of some of the films on premiere night.

Another disturbing element of FilmFest is the editing of “questionable” content. I understand that editing intensely sexual or violent content might be in the best interest for ACU, however, unless the content is blatantly outside the bounds of a PG rating, you’re hurting the integrity of the film by removing parts that might be pivotal to the plot or as simple as a small laugh.

I was involved in an exposition film, a wonderful category for professional feedback, if you are interested in becoming a filmmaker. A problem is that this year, none of the judges were able to see any films in this category. In fact, I had a brief conversation with judge David Leeson, and he didn’t even seem to know anything about an exposition category. It seems odd that we should be scheduling our judges for public luncheons and other appearances that we neglect why they are here in the first place-to watch and judge every film in the festival.

FilmFest, as I said, is a very special event. I hope the third year will address the mentioned concerns.

Dustin Reid
junior electronic media major from Rockwall