ENMU film festival screening to be held Sunday

Eastern New Mexico University will host its first film festival from 1-5 p.m. Sunday at the University Theatre Center.

The High Plains Film Festival will feature a Martin Luther King Jr. documentary, filmed in 1969, and a discussion led by the editor of the film, Jack Sholder.

After a break for refreshments, the winning films will be shown and discussed.

Forty-one filmmakers from four states entered the festival, said Robert Vartabedian, vice president for academic affairs at ENMU.

“I’ve screened every entry. Some of them are phenomenal. I think we have some young Steven Spielbergs out there,” Vartabedian said. “I think they’ll really knock people’s socks off.”

Michael Sitton, dean of ENMU’s College of Fine Arts, said the event will be an opportunity for the audience to see the MLK documentary and hear from its editor about what it was like to work in the 1960s. It will also be a chance “to see the wonderful creativity” expressed in the festival entries, he said.

Janeice Scarbrough, a member of the event’s organizing committee, said the film festival was planned to draw attention to the university’s new cinema arts degree and as an opportunity for students.

“It’s every young filmmaker’s dream to have someone in the industry look at their work,” Scarbrough said.

The judges include Sholder; Joan Leslie, a distinguished film actress; Diana Ossana, an academy-award winning screenwriter; and Eric Witt,

director of legislative and political affairs, and media arts and entertainment development for Gov. Bill Richardson’s office.