In Focus: Student Filmmakers Show Talents At 6th Annual Headwaters Film Festival

Every year in March, Bemidji State University cinema lovers are given a free ticket to check out the future of the industry at the Headwaters Film Festival, and this year proved that the future looks promising.

“One thing I wanted to do was get students involved in the film festival, and so I was able to transform it into a class with students taking the lead,” says Debra Sea, Assistant Professor of Integrated Media at BSU.

“We view all the films that we show in class and then judge them. This year, instead of doing a paper route, we decided to use something a little more sustainable and used Qualtrics, so that was fun,” says Samantha Bittner, the student co-director for this year’s film festival.

Of course, the films are also created by students. This year, some of the filmmakers even came from Minnesota State at Moorhead.

The film festival is also open to international students. This year, there were entries from Belgium, Australia and Germany.

“I did it last year, and it was a lot of fun and it’s just a really good experience, and it’s good to get your work out there and let people see what you can do,” says Hannah Cook, whose film “Awkward” made it into this year’s festival.

The students in the Headwaters Film Festival class had to watch seven hours worth of films, although they eventually narrowed that down to 3 hours. Those films covered a variety of genres and topics, and the filmmakers themselves came from a variety of backgrounds.

“We had several different styles of animation. Those were really really interesting to watch, and we also had some very serious drama films and a couple of documentaries,” says Sea.

“Film has been really good at allowing me to express myself as an artist because sometimes, there are things that you can’t only emphasize with words. It’s better if you can emphasize with emotion and seeing a person on a screen,” says Cook.

At the end of the showing, the filmmakers participated in a Q&A. Many of the students said their projects were more of a matter of duty to a class rather than a passion project, but a few said they’d be willing to dip their toes in the world of cinema again.

“Students have gone on to get internships and jobs because of their experience with the Headwaters Film Festival, so it’s very rewarding and fun,” says Sea.