CSUEB hosts their first mobile film festival

In an era of smartphones, where phones can produce videos on par with some HD cameras, filmmakers have been able to shoot and produce entire films with their phones. In an effort to explore this trend, students and faculty within the School of Arts and Media are hosting a film festival called MoFiFest on Jan. 23. They are accepting submissions from students until Dec. 15.

“We want to bring more opportunities for our students to express their talents by creating movies with the devices that are integrated in our daily lives,” said MoFiFest Development Director, Miranda Xuqin.

California State University, East Bay’s School of Arts and Media is a hybrid program between art, communication, music, theater and dance. They hope that the festival can provide a platform for students to explore their creative talents through the experience of storytelling.

“It challenges students and gives them the ability to be creative with devices they already own,” Executive Director Beatriz Moreno said.

Films submitted to the festival must be recorded solely on smart phones, tablets or other smart devices. MoFiFest strongly urges participants to also use smart phones or tablets to edit their work during the production, though it’s not required.

There are several other mobile film festivals throughout California, such as the International Mobile Film Festival in San Diego that has existed for four years. However, MoFiFest is the first one at CSUEB.

Applicants to the festival must be enrolled at CSUEB during Fall quarter 2014 including graduate, undergraduate, international exchange and open university students.

Students have the option of entering for multiple categories but can only enter one video per category. Categories include Experimental, Documentary Short, Narrative, and Music video.

The film can be submitted by uploading on to YouTube and emailing the link to [email protected] with completed entry form which can be found on their website. The film can also be submitted in person by bringing a physical copy of the film to Li-1092 TV Studio and a printed entry form.

Applicants meeting the requirement will be viewed or read by the MoFiFest staff and a faculty selection committee. Entries will be judged by creativity, quality, production, editing, and content.

Finalists will be viewed by a jury of CSUEB faculty and a professional guest judge from the industry. Winners will be selected from each category, best picture and the audience choice award. The winners will receive cash prizes, yet the amount is unknown. Finalists will be notified by phone or email no later than Jan. 5.

The public screening for the finalists and awards ceremony will be held Friday, Jan 23, 2015 at CSU East Bay.