Film Festival Accepting Short Films

By Dennis Sema

College Hill Writer

The SCCC Film Festival Encourages Local, National, and International Filmmakers to Submit Their Work

Photograph by Veronica Coyne

Entering its third year and with two successful years of celebrating the work of filmmakers from both the local and international spheres behind it, the upcoming Sussex County Community College Film Festival has emerged as a premier film festival in the Northern New Jersey area!

The SCCC Film Festival, which will take place on April 16 from 12 to 2 p.m. and April 19 from 12 to 3 p.m. in the Student Center Theater, is committed to inspiring the next generation of filmmakers and film enthusiasts. To this end, a dynamic lineup of short films, documentaries, and even animated films is carefully selected and curated through a joint effort between faculty and students in various disciplines. 

While the film festival celebrates cinematic storytelling and allows filmmakers to present their works to the community, it is also an ideal opportunity for student filmmakers to engage with networking deep in the New Jersey/Tri-State area. After each film screening segment, panel discussions and Q&A sessions will be held, promoting meaningful dialogue and a chance for filmmakers to discuss their films with audience members and film fans alike. 

To make submissions ahead of the March 25 deadline, interested students should submit to the SCCC Film Festival’s FilmFreeway page at www.filmfreeway.com/scccfilmfestival. Awards and special honors will be selected in the four available categories of submission – Narrative, Documentary, Experimental, and Animated Short Films. 

Veronica Coyne, SCCC Film Festival Coordinator, and Professor in English and Film courses, expressed satisfaction with the submissions received for the upcoming film festival. “So far, we have a selection of sports documentaries, a strong segment of horror short films, and a handful of films that go out of their way to challenge cinematic conventions and norms. By and large, we are looking for films that appeal to our students and exhibit cinematic prowess,” Coyne said. 

Notably, the film festival has a history of showing films from different parts of the world, with Coyne adding, “In the past, we received film submissions from France, Italy, Norway, Spain, Austria, and even countries across the Middle East with the list of international films sent to us growing more each year!” 

Since SCCC is located in the New York City Metropolitan Area and as several high-profile movie studios are being built in New Jersey while New York City stands as a global hub for independent filmmaking, Sussex County Community College will only inevitably gain more ground in the film world through its annual film festival. 

Film screenings at the SCCC Film Festival will be free and open to the public.