Headwaters Film Festival Organizers See Increase in Minnesota Student Film Submissions

The Headwaters Film Festival saw an increase in Minnesota student film submissions.

The film festival is an annual event that is run by BSU students taking an event planning class. This year, the festival had raffle tickets, door prizes and a Q&A session with some of the student filmmakers.

Festival Director Michelle Witkin said the organizers judge the international films.

“So we’re partnered with online class called Independent Film where students can learn about filmmaking techniques,” Witkin said. “It kind of helps them to judge the films more accurately on things like video quality and audio quality and film techniques.”

During the event, they showcased both international and regional student films. Witkin said they get a lot of submissions from international films, but this year they saw a rise in films submitted by students in the state of Minnesota.

“Last year, we had like five Minnesota student films and this year have like 16,” Witkin said. “So that’s almost a 300 percent increase and I’m really excited about that.”