By Megan V. Williams
Wilmington, NC – Aspriring Scorseses and Spielbergs from nearly a hundred schools in eight countries will be in town this weekend for the Scene First film festival.
Organizers claim this is the first-ever student film festival with a national scope. However, there are other competitions for student film makers, such as the international Tau festival in Israel, the First Take festival in Canada, and the University Film and Video Association's touring festival, Frame.
Screen Gems Studios and the UNCW film studies department are co-sponsoring the festival. Department Chair Lou Buttino says he likes to imagine "these students meeting each other, talking to each other, sharing dreams of how to do film, maybe do it differently, and then collaborating."
And when it comes to the high school-aged participants, Buttino says this weekend will be like basketball camp, with him in the roll of scout, searching for talented additions to UNCW's film department
But Buttino says the festival is not just about the students or the University, it also contributes to Wilmington's clout as a film town.
"We've got... wonderful Cucalorus," Buttino says. "We've got a university here. We've got independent filmmakers, and now a national student film festival. The goal is to make this a true film community and this is one more step in that direction."
The inaugural Scene First film festival starts Thursday night and runs through the weekend with screenings, workshops, and receptions.
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