On March 23, the Eagle Filmmakers Association (EFA) will hold a student film festival in the Student Center Auditorium on the campus of Eastern Michigan University.
The EFA is, according to their website, “An organization for students by students,” and “Aims to bring together students from various fields of study who are interested in contributing to the creation of moving picture works.”
“The EFA was founded by Chris Anderson in 2006, primarily to showcase the Eagle Film Festival at the end of each Winter Semester. The focus was on showcasing Student Films, rather than their production,” explained EFA President, Zachary Saam.
The Student Video and Film Festival, held by the EFA, is an annual festival that joins both the film and art communities in order to create a celebration of student work. Their “mission” with this film festival, is to incorporate four basic components, “Showcasing and promoting” students’ film creations, “encouraging” students to become better acclimated with film, “energizing” students on what EMU offers to students interested in film and “strengthening” the bond between the film community at EMU and the local community.
“The focus in recent years has switched from the EFA as an exhibition organization to a production organization,” Saam said. “We really want people to see what fun, creative and entertaining things people can do if they put their minds to it.”
The EFA would like to encourage an environment where artists from all over the campus can join in creating relationships based in the arts with the film festival.
“Our vision is to raise the bar of expertise and creativity at Eastern and to encourage and to promote Eastern Michigan University and the College of Arts and Sciences,” according to the EFA website.
In past years, the film festival has had quite the success, with filled auditoriums, and six full hours of student made content their first year in 2006, a record that has not yet been beat. The 2011 film festival offered almost four hours of independent films and over 15 different shows to choose from.
The 2012 Film Festival has a few awaited films, according to Saam.
“Some of the more highly anticipated films of this year’s festival are Chris Crupi’s film, ‘The Hunter’, which follows two brothers who are forced to live off the land in order to survive, with a twist that you’ll have to come to the film festival to see,” he went on.
The EFA wants to make itself accessible to any student who is interested in moving pictures and their production. “The EFA is open to any current student who has an interest in film. They don’t have to be an Electronic Media & Film major, they just need to have an interest in film.” He continued, “I encourage everyone who has the time to make sure they stop by the Film Fest and check out what we’re all about.”
For more information or inquiries on the EFA or the 2012 Film Festival, please visit their website, found in the Emich directory, or e-mail them at emichEFA@gmail.com.
