Purchase College to Host SUNYWide Film Festival

Purchase College, SUNY is pleased to host the SUNYWide Film Festival (SWFF) April 17 through April 19. Now in its 10th year, the festival is one of the top student film festivals in the Northeast. This is the first year it will be held at Purchase College, which is well known for its acclaimed School of Film and Media Studies.

The SWFF is now accepting submissions from all SUNY students, including 2019 graduates. New to the festival this year is a competition for screenplays. Those who wish to submit a short film or screenplay are welcome to do so on the online portal before February 15.

All finalists in each category will be notified on March 16. Finalists' films will be shown at the festival, and three screenplays will be selected for a live reading. There are prizes for all winners.

The screenplays and films will be selected by the SWFF committee and then judged by a distinguished panel of industry professionals. The festival will also feature panel discussions and a keynote lecture. The judges, panelists, and keynote will be announced at a later date.

Paula Halperin, Director of the School of Film and Media Studies, said, "We're excited to host this film festival for the first time. As the host campus, we look forward to enriching our community through entertaining, thought-provoking, and challenging films, screenplays, and discussions and providing many educational and networking opportunities for SUNY students."

SWFF was launched in 2009 as an opportunity to showcase the cinematic work of students and faculty from the SUNY system. The festival is a result of the vision and dedication of Phil Hastings, Associate Professor of Film and Video Arts at SUNY Fredonia, who founded the festival. Selected films and videos have gone on to garner awards at other regional and national film festivals. Since its founding the festival has also been hosted at SUNY Oswego and Buffalo State.

Purchase College's School of Film and Media Studies offers interdisciplinary programs that combine research and hands-on training, encouraging students to become engaged makers and critical consumers of media. The School of Film and Media Studies offers four BA programs: cinema studies; media studies; new media; and playwriting and screenwriting; a BFA program in film; four undergraduate minors: film/video production; media studies; playwriting; and screenwriting; and aMFA program in media arts. Alumni of the School of Film and Media Studies currently work and excel in all aspects of the film and media industries, from directing, cinematography, editing, production, screenwriting and playwriting, as well as the creation and critique and analysis of film, media, and video art.

Purchase College, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) network of 64 universities and colleges, was founded in 1967 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller. His aspiration for Purchase was to create a dynamic campus that combined conservatory training in the visual and performing arts with programs in the liberal arts and sciences, in order to inspire an appreciation for both intellectual and artistic talents in all students. Today, Purchase College, SUNY is a community of students, faculty, and friends where open-minded engagement with the creative process leads to a lifetime of intellectual growth and professional opportunity.

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