There won't be a huge "Hollywood" sign or sun-kissed celebrities, but movie magic comes to Philadelphia tonight for the third annual Greater Philadelphia Student Film Festival.
And when the silver screen flickers on at the University of the Arts at 7 p.m. tonight, film devotees will watch work from 25 of the region's best student filmmakers.
This is the first year that the event, which was created by Penn students in 2006, will be held off-campus.
The move is "in an effort to make this a Philadelphia event," co-executive director and Wharton senior Jason Gurwin said. "We'd love to be able to rotate to the different campuses," around Philadelphia.
Five hundred students from in and around Philadelphia have already bought tickets for the event.
Gurwin said the festival's mission is "to unite the student film community, and to celebrate the films they've written, directed and produced."
This year, the GPSFF attracted entries from students at 16 Philadelphia-area universities and colleges.
The 120 submissions are a 70-percent increase over last year's number and are more varied, with more animated films.
"The animators here are very, very talented," Gurwin said, adding, "We've seen a real growth in dramas in the last few years."
Gurwin said another goal for the festival was to engage schools that didn't have well established film departments or communities.
"Then we can build their film community," he said.
Part of the reason for its growth was a partnership with Campus Philly, an organization that tries to keep college graduates in the area.
Campus Philly senior manager Michelle Freeman said she was impressed by the outreach to other schools.
"We want to continue those sorts of things," she said. "We want to make that intercollegiate connection."
The festival will screen films in 5 categories - drama, documentary, experimental, comedy and a new division, animation.
Penn students are featured prominently in the festival as finalists in every category except the documentary division. Penn students created six of the 25 films in competition.
College sophomore Brian Canavan created "Memories," one of the finalists in the experimental category.
Canavan, whose film consists solely of still photographs, shot the film with a point-and-shoot digital camera.
"What makes it experimental is it moves from frame to frame," Canavan said.
He said he discovered his love for filmmaking while skateboarding and roller-blading with his friends, and created "Memories," for a film class last semester. The minute-and-a-half film, modeled after a commercial he admired, follows a pair of lovers strolling down Locust Walk.
But the competition is only part of it. The festival, he says, "is a great way to see other students' projects," as well as a resource "to spread ideas and meet people."
