New Student Organization Holds Spring Film Festival At The Lyric Theatre

The newly established Progeny Festival of Motion Pictures will hold their first film festival on Saturday, April 26 at the Lyric theatre from 1 - 5 p.m.

Many students have submitted various genres of movies such as dramas, comedies, music videos, and animated movies. The organization's board will review all the submissions and choose several to enter into the film festival. There is only a four hour period to show movies, so the board to will select as many entries as possible.

"You would be surprised to know how many people are into moviemaking on this campus," said Eric Latham, event planner for Progeny Festival of Motion Pictures. "A broad range of students make their own movies - some for pleasure, some because that is what they want to do some day. Progeny Festival of Motion Pictures is an event 'for students, by the students.'"

Awards will be given based on eight categories which are: Best Sound, Best Editing, Best Screenplay, Best Special Effects, Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Acting and Best in Show.

There will be a panel of four judges at the festival. The panel includes:

Stephen Prince - a communications professor at Virginia Tech; he is the author/editor of eight books on film and has contributed commentary tracks on DVDs of films by Akira Kurosawa and Sam Peckinpah. He is the president-elect of the Society for Cinema Studies.

Mike Gallagher - a graduate from Virginia Tech in 1984 with a degree in communications; he is the owner of Blacksburg-based King Video Productions. He produces and directs promotional, corporate and training videos, documentaries, TV programs and commercials.

Susanna Rinehart - a theatre arts professor at Virginia Tech. Recently, she has directed "The Vagina Monologues" and "The Laramie Project." Before coming to Tech, she was a theatre department faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a resident member of the professional acting company at PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill for more than nine seasons.

Joshua Napier is a producer/director for Visual and Broadcast Communications at Virginia Tech where he writes, shoots, directs, and produces advertising and promotional videos about the university. He is a 2001 graduate of Virginia Tech.

There is a $10 entry fee for each movie submitted and no admission charged for the public.

For additional information regarding the Progeny Festival of Motion Pictures, please contact Eric Latham at elatham@vt.edu.

Written by Meredith Long, University Relations Intern