LJMU to host third annual short film festival
Now in its third year, the LJMU MA Short Film Festival in Liverpool is set to take place across a week in late March. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool John Moores University will host the third LJMU MA Short Film Festival later this month.
Running from March 24 to 31, the festival is organised and hosted by MA Film Students at the university’s Screen School. It will showcase and support short films from students both locally and globally.
Established in 2021, the festival takes place annually, as part of the module, Exploring Film Festivals, Distribution and Exhibition, an educational approach exclusive to Liverpool John Moores University.
Following two years of showcasing works from more than 70 filmmakers, the festival is this year offering two new elements. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the previous editions took place online.
This year’s festival takes a hybrid approach, with the addition of a live event to bring the festival to a close.
The live event provides audiences with the chance to celebrate the student works and filmmakers with an in-person screening of the festival favourites and award-winning films.
Audiences will also have the opportunity to attend the festival’s closing party, getting the opportunity for purpose-driven networking and opportunities for collaboration with fellow students, academics, industry experts and film fans.
James Roberts, MA student and festival co-organiser, said: “This module has given me the opportunity to learn new skills and work collaboratively with fellow filmmakers. Being part of the editing team for the festival has allowed me to express my creativity.”
This year the festival will premiere 42 films selected and programmed by MA Students across core strands of fiction, documentary and animation, alongside the addition of a fourth programme – experimental.
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Carefully curated, the new programme premiers five short films, showcasing a wider range of creative shorts and “pushing the boundaries of contemporary cinema”.
Each programme will be judged by a jury made up of industry specialists and undergraduate students, with each film in the running to win a Paper Bird Award and the opportunity to be premiered at the festival’s closing event.
Dr Lydia Papadimitriou, festival director and module leader, added: “I am very pleased to be working with this year’s MA Film students to prepare the third edition of the LJMU MA Short Film Festival.”