The festival will take place on April 19-22, 2017 at the Minor Theatre in Arcata. The internationally recognized independent film competition, created in 1967 by HSU students, has been planned, promoted, and presented annually for 50 years by Humboldt State students, making it officially the “longest student-run film fest in the world”.
Entries are pre-screened by trained and certified student judges from the film festival course at the University, and the finalists from each category are screened by guest film industry professionals during the four-day festival, with winners being announced at the Best of the Fest on the last night. The festival will give out $3,000 in cash prizes.
This year’s student co-directors, HSU seniors Nairobys Apolito, Kira Hood, and Andrew Weisz, are seeking short films (1-30 minutes in length) that have been made within the past five years.
Categories are Narrative, Documentary, Animation, and Experimental. All members of the HSU and Humboldt County community are encouraged to enter. Though the festival accepts and receives films from countries around the world, there have been several local finalists and winners over the festival’s 50 year history.
Deadline for entries is midnight, Feb. 28, 2017. The discount entry fee is $10 for Humboldt County residents. It is free for all HSU students and alumni. For questions or to enter a film, go to www.hsufilmfestival.com, call (707) 826-4113, or email the festival team at filmfest@humboldt.edu.