FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Timothy Barnard, Festival Director
(757) 221-1274, tlbarn@wm.edu

W&M Global Film Festival Launches 2013 Theme: “Film and Youth”
Announces youth filmmaking project for local teens and special fall event

(Williamsburg, Va.) – The College of William and Mary’s Global Film Festival announces its 2013 theme, “Film and Youth,” as well as a community teen filmmaking project and new fall events. Scheduled over President’s Day Weekend (Feb. 14 th-17th) at the Kimball Theatre, the four-day main event will again feature films from around the world, live performances, receptions, and presentations by invited filmmakers. This fall, the festival is introducing a new filmmaking project for local teens, and on Saturday, November 10th, it will host a special “theme launch” event featuring two films with guest filmmakers and actors appearing live, both in person and via video feed.

As part of the “Film & Youth” theme, the festival is initiating a “Do-it-Young/Film-it-Yourself” (DIY/FIY) filmmaking project for local middle- and high-school students. Area teens are being asked to make autobiographical films about the things they love to do and submit them to the festival for programming. To help encourage participation, the festival will host two complimentary Saturday filmmaking workshops, on November 3rd at the Williamsburg Regional Library and November 17th at the Swem Library Media Center on campus. The first workshop will focus on the planning and filming phases of filmmaking, and the second will cover the “post-production” process of editing and adding a soundtrack. Project participants will also have the opportunity to work with a filmmaking “Big Brother” or “Big Sister,” a W&M student volunteer with video production experience. Participation in the workshops and the “Filmmaking Big Brother/Big Sister” program will be free of charge. Kids interested in participating can find registration and other information at the GlobalFilm Festival’s website (filmfestival.wm.edu). “We want to empower the youth of Williamsburg to express themselves through the medium of motion pictures,” festival director Timothy Barnard explains, “and by programming the films at the festival, we want to showcase their cinematic creations for the whole community.” DIY/FIY film projects will be judged by a jury of local and guest celebrity filmmakers with selected films being screened alongside youth and youth-themed films from around the world at the festival in February. They will also be eligible for prizes and awards.

On Saturday November 10th, the festival is holding its second annual Fall film screening event. This year’s event is being held in conjunction with the first annual W&M Alumni Arts & Entertainment Conference being held on November 8 & 9th. The “Film & Youth” theme will be launched with a double feature screening and reception at the Kimball Theatre and an after-party at the Crust restaurant. The Hollywood Complex, a documentary about aspiring child stars whose parents move them out to Los Angeles for pilot season, will screen at 5pm and will be introduced by the film’s director, Dan Sturman, who will also hold a post-screening Q&A. After a 7pm reception in the Kimball lobby, Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom will screen at 8pm, followed by a live video feed Q&A session with stars Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman. The Crust after-party will feature live music by the band Idiot Glee.

About the festival

With the support of the William & Mary Wendy and Emery Reves Center for International Studies and the Roy R. Charles Center, the Global Film Festival launched in 2008 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Williamsburg Theater. This year, the sixth annual W&M Global Film Festival will again bring the world of global film to the Williamsburg community through film screenings, events, and invited guests. For more information on the festival’s 2013 launch and upcoming events, visit the festival website: http://filmfestival.wm.edu.