By Andrew Berg (BFF 2019; Bates Class of 2020) One of the most highly attended events from the 2019 Bates Film Festival (BFF) was the virtual reality (VR) screening of A Shared Space: Lewiston, a short film by Daniel Quintanilla and Shuab Mahat. Bates students, Lewiston community members, and faculty alike were able to experience a film that uniquely absorbed the viewer …

By Torri Pelletier (BFF 2019; Bates Class of 2020)             My analysis of the 2019 Bates Film Festival will highlight the successes that the festival saw, will serve to critique the shortcomings of the event, and will highlight hopes for the festival that we both were and weren’t able to achieve.  I hope this blog post will serve to help future BFF …

By Shae Gwydir (BFF 2019; Bates Class of 2020) As the second Bates Film Festival comes to a close and the semester nears an end, eyes are on reflection and efforts are already focused on future BFF growth.  As with any academic and public endeavor, there is always room for improvement in the hopes of furthering intellectual outcomes and audience engagement …

By Clementine Callaway (BFF 2019; Bates Class of 2020)             Having the opportunity to serve as one of the directors of the 2019 Bates Film Festival was a wonderful privilege that I would not trade for the world. As someone who comes from a family of filmmakers and feels incredibly passionate about narrative development and the magical art of storytelling, I …

By Matt Chlastawa (BFF 2019; Bates Class of 2020) The goal of a film is to tell a story. Unfortunately, there is no point in telling a story if no one is willing to listen. To peak curiosity in an audience is an art. This is the goal of any marketing campaign, to promote stories worth listening to. Marketing is …

By Abel Ramirez (BFF 2019; Bates Class of 2020) In many ways, planning a local film festival offers valuable insight into many aspects of running a small business, providing festival organizers with the opportunity to delve into whichever business aspects they may prefer. As I am extremely interested in the creative side of business, the work that I focused on …

By Perla Figuereo (BFF 2019; Bates Class of 2021) I like to think of myself as a person who pushes for diversity in everything I do. I like to believe that I think about intersectionality at all times because I am a person whose identity needs to be addressed and accepted as one that is intersectional. But, like all reality …

By Ethan King (BFF 2019; Bates Class of 2021) The process of choosing the films that were shown at the 2019 Bates Film Festival produced conversations that were, for me, simultaneously the most fascinating and frustrating aspects of the class. This had nothing to do with my classmates, or Professor Cavallero, and everything to do with me. I love talking …

by Maddie Fagundo (BFF 2019; Bates Class of 2020) After attending the first Bates Film Festival in the Spring of 2018, I was overcome with curiosity about how such a successful festival came to life in just a single semester, with a handful of students, and one professor driving the production. Just a year later, I was one of the …

by Julia Gutterman (BFF 2019; Bates Class of 2020) The second BFF added a new element that was not present at the festival’s inaugural run; awards. Including awards as a part of the festival in 2019 was very exciting and brought about a lot of conversation in class surrounding the meaning of our awards and how films were to be …